If you've ever met a Psychology major, maybe you have been one of the people that I'm going to rant about in this article. Psychology majors get a lot of grief and are stereotyped to death, so I have a few things to say to everyone who gives Psych kids a hard time.
1. Yes, I am a Psychology Major, but no, I'm not "analyzing" you.
This is my ABSOLUTE number one pet peeve. I cannot stand when someone asks me what I'm studying, I say Psychology, and they say, "Oh man, I better stop talking so you don't analyze me," or "Maybe you can figure out what's wrong with me!" No, Susan, I don't care that you like to chew on your hair and I'm not paying attention enough to see why you do so, and NO JOHN, I am NOT trying to "read you."
2. I am very well aware that Social Work is a "more attractive" field of study, but I do not care.
I don't want to be a Clinical Psychologist, as I don't want to listen to people's problems. I KNOW that Social Work might be more attractive, but I want to be a Forensic Psychologist, and although there will be times where I venture into the world of social problems, I don't want to be a Social Work major.
3. I am also aware of how hard I have to work in order to achieve my goal of becoming a Psychologist.
My major wasn't something I picked because I thought it was going to be easy, and I definitely didn't pick it because I think I can do the minimum amount of work required and still get where I want to go -- that's just not how this whole life thing works.
4. Just because I want to specialize in Forensic Psychology, it definitely doesn't mean I'm dark and twisty.
I get this one ALL the time when I say I want to be a Forensic Psychologist. Most people don't know what that is, and I have to explain that my end goal is to work with criminals. I'd study them and find out why they do what they do. I get these crazy looks, usually followed by, "Wow, that's pretty scary. Why would you want to do that?" Occasionally I get, "That sounds super interesting," which excites me, but still, I'm not crazy for wanting to go into Forensic Psych, so stop it.
In fact, stop all of it. I'm sick and tired of hearing these four idiotic things about my major. I don't go around telling Elementary Ed. majors that, "they'll never make a living." I don't go around telling people who want to be dentists that, "they're going to get sick of looking at teeth everyday" and I WILL NOT tell a Social Work major that Psychology is better. So if y'all who do this would cut it out, I'd appreciate it.
