Dear Jeb Bush,

I have recently heard about your remarks against psychology majors. You stated, “Universities ought to have skin in the game… When a student shows up, they ought to say ‘Hey, that psych major deal, that philosophy major thing, that’s great, it’s important to have liberal arts … but realize, you’re going to be working at Chick-fil-A.” In this statement, you have labeled the field of psychology as not challenging and simplistic. I, a psychology major in the south, am very offended by this. I have a set plan for my future and I am going to do everything in my power to follow through. I can promise you that my future does not include myself working at Chick-fil-A, or any other fast-food restaurant for that matter.

After doing some research on you, I found out something worth sharing. I learned that you attended the University of Texas at Austin and received a liberal arts degree in Latin American studies (Washington Post). I’m confused as to why you would look down upon liberal arts majors when you actually have one yourself. It’s really embarrassing for you that you are trash-talking your own education.

I feel bad for you, Jeb Bush, because you have just lost many, many votes. According to USA Today, psychology is the second most popular major in the United States. Young voters, you know, the ones who you are ridiculing, make up 49 million voters, while seniors make up 39 million voters (Civic Youth). Maybe you should’ve considered these facts before making such a demanding and irrational remark.

When I tell people my major, I often get a response like, “oh, that’s so easy.” Well actually, it isn’t. Psychology is studying peoples’ behaviors and figuring out how they work. It is most definitely a science major, NOT a liberal arts major. With my degree, I am going to help young children overcome the obstacle of bullying. Many of my friends in the psychology field will even go on to open their own practices.

Psychology majors are important because our job is to help people. I understand you, as a politician, are only really looking out for yourself to try and gain the most votes. Even in the dictionary, the word politician is defined as “a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement within an organization.”

Social media users in the United States obviously responded with outrage to your demeaning remarks using #ThisPsychMajor. With this hashtag, they showed you individually what they do for a living with their degree in psychology. These are a few of the photos that went viral:

And my personal favorite...

Worst of luck,

Nicolle Lanson

#ThisPsychMajor