Hello to all of my music and theatre majors, to my art history buffs and English degree seekers, to those passionate about psychology, writing, philosophy, religion and sociology.
How are you all doing today? Feeling supported and grounded in your choice of major? Received any phone calls this afternoon from concerned aunts and uncles waiting for you to switch to a “safer” career path (don’t worry, they have connections!)? Excited to go home for Thanksgiving where (fingers crossed!) you’ll run into some family friends who’ll remind you of how well you did in Biology in high school?
Oh, well, that’s OK. At least you have your friends to support you. Except for when you do homework together and they ask “what exactly” you do in your classes, of course. Or you know, except for those times at parties where someone thinks a solid icebreaker is asking what you can “even do” with your major (you’ll teach, right?).
Welcome to the world of the “unstable” majors. We come from every corner of degree schematics, and what draws us together is our mutual commitment to the passions most people sweep under the rug. We worked just as hard as you on our college apps and we stress just as hard in our studies now.
You know what’s not the same about us, though? On top of all the regular stresses of college, i.e., classwork, social life, internships, part-time jobs, etc., we deal with a whole other level of anxiety: people telling us on a daily basis that we won’t be successful in what we’ve chosen to do.
Now let me, from my point of view, switch over to speaking to those who are the cause of this anxiety. In the politest way possible, I’d like to ask you, how did you decide that you were in the position to pass this kind of judgment on another person? Are you actually concerned about my well-being, and have therefore done enough research to come to the alarming conclusion that all potential careers in my field are now extinct? Or are you relying on “common knowledge” to fill me in about how I need to hop on the STEM bandwagon?
I’m going to have to go with no, you haven’t done that kind of research in my field—which is mostly evident in the fact that you are constantly asking what my field even is. Because if you had done your research, you would know that there are thousands of unheard of opportunities in really any field, and that it is possible to survive without a top ten highest paying career choice.
Further, not only does it undermine my passion when you tell me I should switch to something more “sensible”, it also undermines the students in those “sensible” majors who really have a passion for what they’re doing. If it’s frustrating for a dedicated music student to sing in a choir where half the members barely commit to the performance, imagine how equally aggravating it would be for the insomnia-ridden engineering students to be in class with the bored artist who never contributes to the group work.
I am a college student just like many others in my generation, and we are all sprinting toward graduation with backpacks of debt on our shoulders together. We know how privileged we are to be here, and we are so incredibly thankful to be in a position where we can study what we love. So please, I beg you, don’t belittle any educational choice of mine, or my peers, because frankly, my major is none of your business.
