*it was a conversation held between myself and a friend at 4 a.m. on a Sunday night. It was videoed and this is mostly her monologue with a few creative manipulations.

4:37 p.m.

RANDOM STRANGER:“I’m majoring in biology, but I hate science. But I want money. And history doesn’t bring in money.”

4:00 a.m.

Are you kidding me? Are you seriously kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me, right now? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Are you so obsessed with monetary gain that you would sacrifice what you love most for something you hate?

You know what?! I hope you have a nice life with your future job! It’s because of you that the stigma exists: that English majors don’t make much; that history majors don’t make anything; and that all fine arts students are eventual starving artists! IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU.

If you would actually chase your dreams than there would be better competition in these fields of different arts. Science is not the only thing that keeps humanity continuing on this Earth. Sure, it has cured more illnesses than could be cured way back when -- but it has always been the arts that people are inspired.

NOT BEING A MOTHERFUCKING DOCTOR JUST BECAUSE IT PAYS THE BILLS AND THEN SOME.

as you sit there and trash these future artists and writers and teachers and actors and singers -- fields that you may have one day considered -- remember this, they’re enjoying themselves. They’re going to be studied on in class someday. They’re finding fulfillment.

and you?

You’re just lucky if you can enjoy just even one day of your future life. I hope while you’re working at a hospital that you hate every day of your existence because you were too much of a coward to pursue your own dreams.

You let the false promise of currency guide you, didn’t you?!

If you like the existence of science, the pursuit of it and invention of it, if your inspiration comes from Newton’s findings on physics, then congrats. PURSUE THAT DREAM OF YOURS. WE NEED DOCTORS LIKE YOU.

but you others. The ones who faced medical school only for the eventual grand paycheck they might receive later, I’m going to give a solid FUCK YOU to you. You’re not actually helping others because you want to -- you do it out of selfish desire. Because of you, a field of what you might actually have wanted to study is less competitive, is less rich, is less than what it could have been BECAUSE OF YOU.

have a nice life.

i hope you truly enjoy it.

You know what infuriates me most: when people say teaching isn’t a noble profession because it does not pay as much as other jobs.

I’M SORRY.

but what did you say?

Let me tell you a secret:

If more people went into teaching, yes, you would get the better teachers because there would be a better pool to select from. And then, the kids would LEARN MORE and then the kids would be like,

“Wow! There’s such a large variety of things I can do! I don’t have to be a doctor to make money.”

NO!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE.

You can do whatever you want because that is what we’re here for, WHATEVER WE WANT, because that is fulfillment. Because you do the thing not only because of what YOU WANT, but its whatever you’re good at.

Whatever you excel at.

Whatever makes you interested in the world.

Musician?

Teaching? Well that won’t pay much now will it?

Creative writing?

What’s your backup?

What’s your backup?

What’s your backup?

Isn’t anyone else tired of hearing this question? Tired of noticing what your lousy ass relatives actually think of careers that do not concern themselves with finding the cure for cancer?

Because I sure as hell am.

NOTHING IS MY BACKUP BECAUSE I HAVE ENOUGH FAITH IN MY MAJOR.

so fuck you and get out of my house.

a final note to those halfheartedly following the sciences:

Why?

What?

You want to be affluent?

You want to have a higher bill to pay for your house? You want to be so rich you want to complain about spending your tax dollars on other people’s children? OH NO.

OH NO YOU’VE MADE IT ALREADY AND OTHER PEOPLE HAVEN’T.

OH NO.

is that really your biggest worry? What have you done that makes you so entitled to that money? What? You worked? Oh no...you have a job that gives you money? You had the experience and the education to get that job...OH NO! You are already privileged and you already have everything and some people do not have anything!

The kids in Belize told me they weren’t going to high school so why bother trying to learn? They didn’t know why they were in school.

They did not have access to the type of education that we have. A system that attempts to benefit us all -- to cater to all of our wants, our dreams, our desires.

And you’re manipulating it.

You’re ruining it.

If I were from another country I would hate America, too. If I lived in a poorer area and I heard from this country,

“I just want to be a doctor to make money.”

When you can go to school for WHATEVER YOU WANT.

These people actually need money. NEED. Yes, we need money, too. But don’t you dare compare it to their need for it. Don’t you fucking dare?

You have the chance to chase whatever dream you possess and you’re throwing it away for the short-term satisfaction of what a few thousand dollar bills will hand you.

Do not chase money.

Chase success.

4:38 p.m.

TO THE RANDOM STRANGER: So you like history? Well, you don’t only have to be a teacher! No you could be an archivist, or a reporter, or a historian, or a textbook writer, or an anthropologist, or an archeologist.

The world is full of possibilities for you.