To my close-minded peer,

When I heard you say “If you’re not majoring in a science or engineering, then you are wasting your money by going to school,” I immediately felt sorry for you and your close-minded and arrogant thoughts. It amazes me that someone can be so self-centered and so caught up in their own beliefs and passions that they feel the need to undermine someone else’s education. I’m sorry that you think your major and your classes are so much more vigorous with a much higher intensity level than mine.

Since science totally rules the whole world, I apologize that the pressure to keep the world stable is upon your shoulders. Even with all of this stress in your life, why do you feel like you have time to criticize my choices? Don’t diminish my work and act demeaning towards me just because my knowledge and my workload is different than yours.

And because you feel like you are the only one who works hard, I’d like to ask:

Could you write a 10-12-page bibliographical essay every other week?

Could you read two novels and analyze multiple poems every week?

Could you simultaneously learn three instruments that you have never even touched before in the span of a semester?

Could you read and speak fluently in a completely different language for hours on end per day?

Could you be open-minded enough to study scholarly articles about women and gender studies?

Could you understand, create, and operate a business by studying other successful people daily?

Could you memorize all of the laws in place, while practicing to bail people out of serious legal situations?

Could you get in front of a camera and report news and statistics multiple times on a daily basis?

Could you imagine studying to teach young children and maintain sanity while being in charge of a classroom of 23 kids for the rest of your life?

Chances are, no, you couldn’t.

So, before you say that your science and engineering major is the only important thing, think about all of the people around you who also study their asses off. Realize that their classes aren’t “just reading,” “just writing,” or “just memorizing.” Every major requires different skills and different mindsets.

Even though you feel like you are missing out and that everyone else is out partying and having a good time, while you are in the midst of your late-night study sessions and hours spent on assignments that you feel will never get done, recognize that chances are that is not the case. You are not the only one who missed out on that party. You are not the only one who had to skip that tailgate. You are not the only one spending their Saturday night in the lab, library, or classroom. You are not the only one going to school to actually learn and do work.

My degree has just as much value as yours and anyone else’s does. Just because my studies consist of things that are different than yours, it does not mean that I am not putting as much time and effort pouring my heart and soul into every assignment I do, essay I write, and book I read. All of us who are working for their undergraduate degree are putting countless hours in with the goals of eventually being able to work in their dream field doing the things that they love.

Just because the things I love and am passionate about are different than yours, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t valid dreams.

Respectfully,

The Girl Working Towards A Double Major And A Minor That You Think Is Worthless.