We hear it all the time: "I'm majoring in this because my parents want me to" or "I'm majoring in this because it will get me a job that pays well" or "I don't know why I'm majoring in this, I'm just good at it." But when was the last time you heard someone say "I'm majoring in this because I really love it"? When did we become so dependent on studying what will make us more successful rather than studying something that we love and are passionate about?
I am very fortunate to have parents who always wanted me to major in something I loved. "Because if you're going to spend four years studying something, it may as well be something you will enjoy. The jobs will follow," they always said. So here I am, majoring in Literary Studies. A "would you like fries with that" degree as some people may call it. However, when I'm in my literature classes reading poems by Lanyer, Whitman, and Donne, or stories by O'Conner, Woolf, or Butler I'm far from thinking about what job this major will get me, or how much I'll be paid. I am simply overcome by their words. There's not a week that goes by that I don't want to cry over the beauty of what I read.
Maybe I'm not hanging out with the right people, but this seems to be a rare thing to see in college students. I can only think of a handful of my peers who feel the same way about their major as I do mine, and these majors are typically education, history, or the arts and humanities. All of these majors are also commonly referred to as "would you like fries with that" majors. But what people don't see, or pay attention to, is the fire in their eyes when they talk about Impressionistic paintings. People don't hear the passion in their voice as they go on and on about the French revolution. People look past the tears in their eyes when they listen to music from the Romantic era. People roll their eyes when they start talking (for the millionth time) about why it's important to differentiate lesson plans.
It's time we start appreciating these people who live and study their passions. They are truly one in a million. Each one is passionate about something completely different. It's time we start allowing more people to study what they love, because why not? Who wouldn't want to learn more about something they're passionate about? It's time we start reminding ourselves it's never too late. If you didn't study what you loved in college, what's holding you back now? We should be driven by what we love and by what moves us. In my eyes, that is what makes us all truly special and unique.
