College students of any age can attest to the fact that once enrolled, there are a few questions that will be asked so many times that an almost memorized answer becomes formulated. You will hear the questions “Where are you from?” and “What is your major?” from the moment you step on campus until the day you graduate. For many students, the questioning ends here. The answer often satisfies the asker, because their major correspondents pretty directly with a career. However, for a many of us majoring in social sciences, humanities, and arts, there is often a follow up question: “What do you plan on doing with that?”. Sometimes the person asking this question truly means well, but too often this question is paired with an eye roll or sarcastic statement about how they wish they also had such an easy major.
In no way would I ever want to put down anyone who has decided in college to become a doctor, engineer, lawyer, or CEO. The world needs you, and I’m sure you will find amazing success in your field.
However...
The world also needs teachers to lead the future generations, authors to write the stories we have yet to imagine, reporters to ensure we never become victims of censorship, and artists to make this place more beautiful.
At an early age, my desire to learn began to grow and school could no longer fulfill my thirst for knowledge. At this point, I turned to books. Reading was like magic to me. Nothing else could completely transport me from reality, and I was hooked. From kindergarten on, you could rarely find me without a book in my hands. My mom would reward me with trips to Barnes and Noble whenever I received a good grade, and I became a master at the skill of reading several books at a time.
When this wasn’t enough for me, I began to write and never stopped. Writing became my escape, no matter how great or awful of a situation I found myself in I could always turn to my pen and paper and let everything out. Writing has been a form of therapy and source of happiness for me for as long as I can remember.
One might assume that I was lucky to have found my passion at such an early age. However, In a world where everyone is obsessed on making more money, I focused my energy into searching for the perfect income-boosting career. My sophomore year of high school, I began adding additional science classes onto my schedule because I figured that in order to be successful in life, science was what I needed to excel at. As my course load filled with math and sciences classes grew harder and harder for someone with such an love for English and history to manage, my free time grew shorter. The time I had for writing became nearly non existent.
When it came time to apply to college, I realized I had no idea what I should to major in. Several BuzzFeed quizzes titled “what should you do with your life” later, I still had no idea, so I began to apply to schools as whatever random major I felt like on that day. If I had just binged watched six episodes of grey’s anatomy, I applied as a Biology major and premed, thinking I’d at least be lucky enough to find my “Mcdreamy.” When I became upset with one of the several mass shootings that often occurred in our country throughout my senior year, I applied as a political science major, hoping that I might be able to make a change.
I wanted several careers all in one, and the thought of picking one job really scared me. I was so focused on finding the right major for a specific career that I forgot to take a step back and think about what I really was passionate about.
All my life, I’d loved writing. Not only did I love writing, I also loved people. I wanted a career that involved both of these, where I’d have the chance to talk to unique personalities everyday and then write about it. I wanted to be the first to know when something incredible or devastating occurred, and I wanted to share my knowledge with the world.
I never applied to school as a journalism student because the idea of having a major that often appears near the top of the list of “easy majors” or “majors that earn the least” terrified me. I started out the year majoring instead in environmental engineering, because when I informed adults and other students of this, I was met with approving nods, and, “wow, that’s so important in our world today.” It didn’t take much longer than a few weeks for me to realize while sitting in my labs, and observing algae reproduction, that I could never be truly happy in that field.
Of course I still believe that it’s important; the environment is in danger and it’s going to require a generation of scientists who are incredibly passionate about their work to make a difference. When they do, I hope to be right there with them to share the exciting news, just like I’d love to share exciting moments taking place all over the world in all different fields of work.
Majoring in what you are passionate about is SO much more important than choosing the career where you’ll find the most money right away. There’s a reason why so many teachers are incredibly happy while some lawyers are not. If choose work you love it will be much easier to find joy and success.
I won’t ever have to suffer through o-chem or biology to obtain my degree, but my classes won’t be any easier. Everyone’s talents are so unique, and that’s one of my favorite things about college. I will still spend many all nighters writing speeches and 10 page essays, and I'll need to find many internships to boost my resume. So the next time you hear your friend is majoring in French, communications, or elementary education, don’t tell them that you would have a 4.0 GPA if you had to take the same classes as them, don’t ask them how they expect to earn a living, and don’t ask them what they could possibly plan on doing with their degree. Ask them instead, why they chose their major, and not what they plan on doing with it. More than likely, there’s a story behind their degree that you just might want to know.
