As a senior in high school, I am being bombarded with questions that I don’t want to answer: What are you majoring in? How are you paying for school? Do you see grad school in your future? Are you and your boyfriend staying together? What do you plan to do after college? These questions are not only the worst because I don’t want to think about these things as a 17-year-old, but because my answers never seem to satisfy the questioner, especially when I’m asked what I’m majoring in.
I’m entering Sarah Lawrence College, an extremely unique college that has no majors and no requirements, next fall. However, I will be concentrating on theater, comparative literature and French. This is not the most conventional or lucrative combination of majors and I understand that, but I can’t see myself studying anything else besides what I am truly passionate about.
Most people disagree with my viewpoint. When I tell them what I have chosen to study (and dedicate the rest of my life to), I normally get polite smiles and nods followed by a “What do you plan to do with that?” It’s obnoxious, but it’s expected, and I have no issue telling them about my big plans for the future. The answer I really have an issue with is “that sounds fun.”
No, my majors are not “fun.” They are hard work and require dedication, just like anyone else’s. Just because I am not spending three hours in a lab every day doesn’t mean that I’m not working as hard as you. I am spending hours in the library, looking up literary criticism and searching for quotes. I’m locking myself in a practice room, intensely warming up my voice, body, and mind, getting ready to start a rehearsal. I’m writing until my hands cramp on my next poem, play, or story. I’m doing push-ups and stretches and crunches to get ready for a Kabuki workshop or a stage combat class. I’m also doing all this while constantly being asked by people like you what I’m going to do with my degree.
But no matter how much work I do, society seems not to see the value of liberal arts degrees anymore, when in reality, some of the most successful people in the world hold degrees in the liberal arts. Humanities majors possess skills in critical thinking and problem-solving, which are requirements for jobs across the board. The computer programs and equipment we use will always be changing, and always be learnable, but the need for skills like public speaking, creativity, and analysis will be constant.
Science and math are very difficult fields, but just because they may be more “academic” than theater and the arts doesn’t make them better or more difficult. Liberal arts majors may have more creative and expressive majors, but that doesn’t mean that it’s fun and easy to skate by. So please, think twice before you call my major “fun,” because trust me, it’s much much harder than it looks.
