Right now, I’m currently pursuing a degree in history at DePaul University and hope to achieve my masters in international studies later on. With those degrees I plan to go into the fields of journalism, public policy, and/or international law. I believe that as a history major, you achieve a broader sense of precedent in dealing with issues impacting the political arena, and that most, if not all, of those issues have at least one historical precedent to them.

That’s just a summary of a more complex explanation I usually give people when they ask me what am I going to do with a history degree, and I think a lot of liberal arts, communications, and even education majors can relate to a similar explanation regarding their own major. Now don’t get me wrong, I personally don’t get offended when people ask me those kinds of questions, and I don’t mind telling people what I’m seeking to do for a living, but admittedly it becomes kind of irksome.

We are often asked since a very early age in our lives a simple question: “What do you want to do with your life?” I remember being in kindergarten hearing all of the different kinds of jobs from a teacher (that was me, a math kind) to a fireman to an astronaut to an engineer (which at the time seemed like witchcraft to me), but why are we consistently asked those kinds of things as we grow up, but come college if our majors don’t pertain to science or math, there is a stigma put onto us? In other words, why is degree-shaming a thing?

I am a firm believer in following your dreams. So far at DePaul, I’ve talked to people seeking majors as diverse as themselves, and two of which that I had great conversations with are theater and women’s and gender studies majors. They told me how passionate they are in the field of study they are pursuing. The theater major I met told me how concise yet diligent you have to be in every aspect of theater, whether it be screenwriting, acting or even designing the set, and that it’s more than just immersing yourself in a role. The women’s and gender studies major told me it’s now more vital than ever that we have people who educate and protect those who are the most vulnerable, and we have to stand up to subtle forms of racism whenever we see it. My writing cannot give their true admiration any justice; whenever their fields of study come up in conversation, they light up in such a way that you’ve never seen before.

People like this are why degree-shaming is such a meaningless thing. When you stigmatize a specific major and patronize someone for enrolling in that degree, what is the purpose in that? Yes, it is important and just as much awesome that we have people pursuing business and software engineering degrees, but in what position are they in that gives them authority to talk down to others? In my view, there is no such thing as a bad degree; in instances like these, there are only bad dissenters. If you have the potential and dedication to a certain field of study, then go for it.

I will admit that I have been guilty of degree-shaming in the past, but I have learned that other people view the world in sometimes radically different ways, and perhaps that’s one of the repercussions of living in such a socially traditional community for most of your life. Whether or not a degree has supposed financial security is irrelevant to those who pursue socially radical degrees because they, like myself, are passionate about what they study and believe they can capitalize on those passions.

So, before you degree-shame someone, take a moment to realize that not everyone has the same ambitions as you do, which I will admit can be difficult in today’s divided world. The beauty of a university, especially at a prestigious institution of leaning like DePaul, is that it offers a wide range of degree options that challenge everyone to think critically and examine new ways of civil discourse for the betterment of society. I am a firm believer of the pen being mightier than the sword, and that worthless education is an oxymoron. I’d rather do something that I enjoy, which is history and public policy, than do something for the money.

To quote the Broadway musical Hamilton (which you can probably assume that I absolutely love), history has its eyes on us. We need people of all fields of study and educate the masses in such a way that we no longer normalize ignorance, just as DePaul's motto says: "I will show you the way of wisdom." The saying goes that ignorance is bliss, but sometimes it’s not, and it is our obligation that we, in a pivotal moment in our history, make education cool again.