My first semester of college, I took calculus.

It was the last math class I would ever need to take, and I was excited. I've never been bad at math by any means, but it's never been something I enjoyed doing, and I'm a firm believer that you should dedicate your life to doing something you love.

I didn't mind taking calc for my general education requirement; I took it in high school, so it was familiar, and it was mentally stimulating in a way I sometimes lack exposure to as a writer. When I took my calc final, I couldn't believe that I was finally done with math for good. It was a day I had always imagined, but I never thought it would actually arrive.

I told a friend that I had just gotten back from calc and that I was done forever. He then proceeded to tell me that I would be dumber than everyone else because I was done with math.

That stung.

This threw me into a complete panic. Was this true? It couldn't be. I always considered myself smart. I had graduated top of my class in high school, and I was labeled as one of the "gifted" kids at a young age. But this was college now, a place where I could pursue whatever I wanted, and my heart was telling me journalism. I loved to write.

Here is the problem with society: there is so much emphasis on math and science that kids have been brainwashed to believe that excelling in those subjects is the only thing that makes them smart.

Yet again, the humanities are being disregarded.

What do you say to someone who has a gift for music? English? Art and design? Journalism? Theater?

All of these studies are integral to society. They enrich our lives, bring us news, and basically do everything that science and math cannot. They are just as important, and my desire to bring truth and news to our world through the power of the written word does not make me stupid or dumb. But it hurts when people believe it to be true.

Not everyone can write well. Not everyone can do math well. If we respected these differences and accepted that everyone has a knack for something and will bring it to the table, it would never be a competition. It would be a peaceful coexistence.

I don't care if people throw a fit, saying that STEM is the most important thing in the whole world and everyone gets paid exponentially more. In what way does that correlate with intelligence? It really doesn't. It's just what society values, and that's unfair.

All I am asking for is a little respect. There are so many different kinds of intelligence, and everyone embraces it in their own way.