Even when we are as young as children, an idea is planted into our heads that certain careers are of a higher caliber than others. While I cannot argue that firemen, police officers, doctors, and lawyers are not extremely important, I am a firm believer that everyone deserves equal recognition. You might be thinking to yourself: how does someone who is just barely a college student have such a strong opinion on this topic? For a good 12 years of my life, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. I can distinctly remember telling the people making my fourth grade yearbook that I wanted to be a forensic pathologist. I wanted to go to medical school, just like both of my parents. I wanted to do autopsies on victims of homicide and help solve crime. I wanted to be able to give the victims’ families the closure that they longed for. And up until three months into my freshman year of college, that’s exactly what I intended to do.

The group of my peers that were pinned “pre-med” was definitely not small. At a health professions meeting, a professor told us to look around at the students sitting in the room. Sixty-six percent of them would not make it to the end. I scoffed at this fact. That would certainly not be me; I was positive of what I wanted to do and had been for over a decade. Fast forward only a few months and you will see me crying on the phone to my mom at midnight. I had suddenly realized that what I wanted to do for so long would not make me happy.

I did not want my life to begin at 30. I did not want to be away from my children for long hours of the day. I did not want to work with dead people for the rest of my life. I did want to pursue something I have always been passionate about: the planet and the things inhabiting it. I did want to make a difference, but this time as a person with an Environmental Studies degree from Trinity University. Changing my major was a very personal and serious decision for me, but one that is not uncommon in college. There was one problem weighing on me: when I left for school, I was going to be a doctor. And everyone knew it.

Coming home for visits warranted the obligatory “how’s the whole doctor thing going?” I was finally happy and stress-free because one bad grade didn’t mean the end of my big plans. I was enjoying my first Environmental Studies class. I was sure about my new path. The one thing I wasn’t was a pre-med student. I was okay with that, but I noticed a pattern when telling others. The look that said you sure gave up quickly. I got a lot of comments about how my “hippie degree” wouldn’t get me near as much as an M.D. would. I knew this was inferring wealth, but I also knew that wealth meant nothing to me if I was not happy. This concept is hard to explain to someone questioning your choices.

Unfortunately, this judgment isn’t confined to just my story. As girls, it is programmed into us that we are supposed to find a man that makes a lot of money and will be able to support us for the rest of our lives. I’ve seen many a relationship turned down because he “didn’t make enough.” I’ve heard “get yourself a doctor or a lawyer” my fair share of times. Not only is this incredibly sexist (hey, who says I need a man to support me financially anyways?), it implies that money is the key to a healthy marriage. To a bright future. To a happy life. Here’s a secret: I’ve seen plenty of rich people with crappy lives. Lives lacking love, passion, and support of a different kind.

College is definitely a microcosm of the real world, full of the same issues and concerns. I have a concern I’d like to voice. I’m concerned that people judge others based on what they enjoy studying. I’m concerned that an unintentional hierarchy has been established; a “battle of the majors,” if you will. At the top are those pursuing a coveted STEM career. To clarify, those are the scientists, the technologists, the engineers, and the mathematicians. The kids who get to sit at the metaphorical “popular” lunch table, those not fitting into these categories looking in from the background. And any photographer knows that the background can be an important aspect of the perfect picture.

Here’s the key point I’ve been leading up to, friends: every major matters. We would be nowhere without teachers, philosophers, writers, historians, artists, musicians… the list could go on infinitely. Someone who personifies all of the previous labels is a man by the name of Lin-Manuel Miranda. While he is absolutely HUGE as of late, someone who didn’t know his name might attribute that to his career and therefore, importance. If I told you that he graduated from Wesleyan University with a Theatre Studies major, you probably would never guess how big he has made it. You probably would never guess that a song he wrote (with J.J. Abrams himself) is in “The Force Awakens.” You probably would never guess that he was invited to perform for the President of the United States. You probably would never guess that a single ticket to his musical masterpiece will cost you over $1000. You probably would never guess that he and his work has been nominated for 64 awards and won 42 of them (according to Wikipedia at this very second, probably more by the time you’re reading this, honestly). He is a prime example of how powerful passion is. That “lousy” theatre degree he left college with has allowed him to influence and educate. He has the power to give millions of people an important gift: knowledge.

To wrap things up, do what makes

you happy. Do what you are passionate about. Do what makes you proud. Don’t listen to the haters and naysayers who can’t understand that you are working just as hard as any other person trying to follow their dreams. Anything that you can throw your entire heart and soul into will result in so much more than something that will make you a lot of money or something your parents want you to do. You are an amazing person and you will move mountains.