I come from a whole line of individuals in the medical field. My grandfather is a dentist, my mother is a dental hygienist and my grandmother is a nurse. As you can imagine, all these lines of work have a very steady income, and high rates of hiring. As the odd man out, my family never really expected me to find my love in a STEM field of study. Thus, imagine their surprise when I declared myself a Psychology major! They were ecstatic and encouraged my studying heavily. All was well. That was, of course, until I realized that I had spoken too soon, and found my true calling, Art History.
Worry not. They did not disown me immediately upon the announcement of my new major. However, they were concerned. Did I know what I was going to do with that major? Did I know the average income of someone in the Art History field? Was I going to be a teacher? What if I couldn't find a "real job" when I graduated? All of these were, of course, understandable concerns, which I expected from a family that had never really pursued any work in the art community. However, it did frustrate me a little and my frustration grew as more people--people who weren't my family--kept asking the same questions. Did I really know what I was getting myself into when I signed up for the "easy major?"
The answer is no.
Sure, I know that I have a tentative goal regarding what I want to do when I grow up. Sure, I know that it might be easier to get hired as a doctor or a lawyer. Sure, I consider being an art teacher to be an admirable aspiration.
But no, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had no idea I was opening myself up to a world of criticism from individuals that do not see art and the history of art as hard work. Frankly, it makes me sad because you don't see what I see.
Art has been around as long as humans have existed, so there is a LOT to cover. It is exhausting to constantly defend the thing you love, over and over again, to individuals who don't care to take the time to understand it.
However, I, and all the other individuals who have pursued "useless" majors, will continue to fight against the backlash because we love it. I face the idea of hard-to-find work and a consistent stream of naysayers, because we love pouring over textbook over novel over scholarly review, trying to find every ounce of meaning within a body of work.
Work is not about taking whatever you can get, somewhere where you are in constant demand. Work is about finding a skill that sparks something inside you, that makes getting out of bed every morning an exciting beginning of a journey, not something to dread. My "useless" major does that for me.
Besides, if and when I do manage to get a job in my field, I am going to be doing something that is going to change the world. Art History majors alter culture and the way our society looks at the generations past, just we encourage the future path of art. We have a hand in every tense, and I think that is remarkable work, something in which I need to take part.
Honestly, even if I end up pursuing something outside of my degree in the future, that is okay. Even then, I will not regret my major. A degree is so much more than a ticket to a job. With my major, I learned something. I discover new things every time I look about art--beyond that which is in the piece; rather, regarding the world in which the piece was created. I found a new love, that I never knew I had until I went to college and took a chance. I will always love art and appreciate its use throughout my day-to-day life, because it is (quite literally) everywhere, from the billboards you see, to the cars you drive, to the house you live in, to the device on which you are reading this article. Art is more than a painting hanging on a wall. It has a part, no matter how small, in every part of the world around us. The sole knowledge of understanding that, and being able to appreciate it, is worth every penny.
Worst case scenario, I could kill it on Jeopardy!
Next time you hear someone talking about their Art History degree, or their Anthropology degree, or their English degree, take your pick, it usually comes up with anything that doesn't end in the word "engineering", honestly- and before you say anything, before you voice your condescension masked as concern, look more closely. You'll see something in their eyes, and flame that you didn't notice before. They are talking about more than just their major - they're talking about their passionate, something to which they are ready to dedicate their whole lives.
I know this, because I am one of them. I love my not-so-useless major, and that is okay.
