One challenge that many college students face is picking a major. Choosing a field of study is important because it sets up the path for one's career. Something that happens too often at my school is "major-shaming." What's major-shaming you ask? It's when a student with a "difficult" major doubts or discounts those with so-called easier majors. Here are a few things that students who are major-shamed hear constantly.

1. "So, you're going to be a ______?"

Insert "teacher" if you're an English major, and "counselor" if you're a psychology major. Often, people don't realize what you can do with your degree. It can be really frustrating when people think your four years at college can only amount to such few things. It's also angering that people think these occupations are shameful. We need teachers and counselors and every other job out there.

2. "That's an easy major!"

Unless you spent four years at the same institution, took the exact same professors, and got that degree yourself, don't ever tell someone that their major is easy. Each field of study is unique, just like every person is, and it isn't logical for one to say that something they've never experienced is easy.

3. "They used to be a science major."

This is accompanied by a snooty tone of voice. I came into school undeclared and spent my freshman year discovering what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The idea of that freaked me out. I love chemistry, and was convinced by older students to try chemical engineering. I tried it out for a year, but I realized how much calculus it was, and I'm not good at calculus. Then, I switched my major to accounting. The number of times I've heard people talk about how someone couldn't handle being a science major is unreal.

4. "Well, that's just common sense."

Implying that someone's major is common sense kind of defeats the purpose of having it be something to study at all. You're implying that if we were to take said major out of every post-secondary school, we would still have the jobs needed in the world.

5. "That major doesn't make a lot of money."

The funny thing about life choices is that they don't always have to be about money. Sometimes, people choose to do things because they enjoy it, not because it's going to make them tons of cash.

At the end of the day, we just need to be more respectful of other majors. Keep in mind that we need a plethora of degrees to keep the world in order. If everyone were engineers and doctors, who would design our clothes or write our newspapers?