Dear STEM Majors,
First and foremost, I would like to say that I have so much admiration and respect for every single one of you. I for one can't imagine having to do what you do everyday. I couldn't take classes like Calc 3, biochemistry, and the several other demanding classes you take on semester after semester. I can't balance equations, solve calculus problems, or pretend that I could sit through an hour long lecture trying to work through those extensive equations. To be honest, I don't know how you make it through each quiz, exam, and problem set. Needless to say, from someone who is truly appalled at your academic perseverance, you can count on me asking you for help with my math homework.
With that being said, I can say confidently that I know you wouldn't be able to do what I do. If you could, you wouldn't be asking me to look over all your papers and edit as needed. In all honesty, having to re-write your entire paper in the process isn't an easy task. No, my major is not easy or useless just because you have deemed it to mean less than yours. For you, solving those math problems is a breeze. It might even calm you to know that there's only one right answer and only one right way to get that answer.
My major is not easy. I will literally punch the next person who talks down to me because they feel like their major is harder and therefore superior to mine. Yeah, I only have to take two math classes and one science with lab, but why would I have to take more than that when it doesn't pertain to my major? You have to take less gen-ed classes that pertain to my major. And yet, if i'm being honest, I know some off my friends who are STEM majors who wouldn't have passed if it weren't for my help. And for the record, classes like POS 212, POS 325, AND POS 400 are not the same classes.
You probably think all I do is read books, write papers and occasionally memorize facts. In reality, if you really think about it-you do the same. You just plug different numbers in the basic formulas you've memorized. You think that exam week for us is a breeze, and you're wrong in thinking that. We all know you guys are allowed to have calculators and a note card with the formulas written on them to use during the exam. Just saying.
While you're in the library a week before exams, I've already been in the library for about a week or two before you decided to wander in. Seriously, my major is not easy just because you think less of it. Or because you don't know exactly what I'm going to do with my degree. The truth is, my major is a lot of work. It's not easy, yes it's easier to me than solving equations but you would find solving equations easier than writing papers. I would like to see you write three 7-8 page papers within the course of one week. Or have to read four to five books at the same time and have to keep the different books straight in your head without it overlapping and making you think about the wrong book in a class discussion.
Don't belittle my major simply because it doesn’t require the understanding of tedious logarithmic equations. It's not any easier than yours. I put in as much work and effort as you do and I will earn my degree, just as you will earn yours. Just because my average day doesn't revolve around doing math problems, does not mean I am any less intelligent than you are. Do not laugh when you ask me for my major. Do not crack a joke about how I would've been better off saving money and not going to college or how you'll see me working at a McDonald's in a couple of years. Do not tell a musical theater major that they probably won't make it because, statistically speaking, you won't either. A lot of STEM majors change their major to something in humanities. Some of us realize that while money is important, it does not equate to happiness and we would rather do something we love than be stuck in a job we hate for years until we retire.
So, to recap: My major is not easy and if you tell me that one more time, I will slap you.
Sincerely,
Every Non-STEM Major Ever
