"So, you must want to be a teacher, right? Oh, no? Well, once you realize you're wasting your time and actually care about finding a job, you'll understand. Anyway, do you know where the closest gas station is around here?"
This endearing quote was spoken to me by a middle-aged man in the middle of a quaint local cupcake shop this past summer. The topic of conversation: my declared college major.
Before you started college, you were probably hit with the not-so-surprising question of, "What are you going to major in?" more times than you could count. If you were ready to respond with a Power-Point presentation of how you saw the next four years of your life going, that's absolutely incredible. If you looked your inquirer in the eye and shrugged your shoulders in an "I don't know," manner, that's just as absolutely incredible.
Your major is important, but in more ways than the one every working adult is carving into your mind. The main importance is often forgotten: your happiness.
I am an English major with a recently declared Communications minor. Yes, while it is true I sometimes groan while reading over 200 pages worth of theories that critically analyze pieces of literature and stress-write papers on novels I am still trying to understand, I can't imagine my college career being any other way. I can't accurately describe the genuine excitement I feel in the end when I am able to understand a novel I've read a dozen times before from multiple social and political perspectives or write an article and learn so much more about people and the world around me in the process. It makes me happy.
It is usually assumed that if you major in anything else other than business, science, or math, you will live the rest of your life in a box (and that you are awful at anything involving numbers). Likewise, it is usually assumed that if you are a business, science, or math major, the world is your oyster and your life is pretty much set (but that you can't write to save your life). Everyone is disturbingly placed into categories and if you happen to prove someone wrong by deviating from your "predetermined" strengths and weaknesses, it just doesn't seem to make sense. It's almost like the world isn't ready for an art major who got an A in calculus or an accounting major who can write a flawless business proposal and enjoys reading the classics. Crazy, right? It's time to actually start listening to the countless Shia LaBeouf memes circling the Internet -- just DO IT. Make your dreams A REALITY!
College is time to experience the world in its entirety; to experience what makes your heart race and, more importantly, what makes you actually want to get out of bed in the morning. If you don't enjoy what you do, why bother doing it? It's understood that salary plays a large role in what one may want to pursue in his or her life, and don't get me wrong, that is important as well. But, it just doesn't end there.
Your major is helping to shape you into the person you want to become in your life. Just as you change as a person, so can your major. If you start college thinking you want to become a doctor and graduate with a degree in theatre because in the end, that's what makes you happy, you're letting yourself know how important you are. If you're dedicated to something, pursue it and work hard. If you're passionate about something that may not necessarily let you see a handful of zeroes at the end of your paycheck, do it and work hard. Don't be afraid to let yourself acknowledge your own happiness. Because at the end of the day, you know yourself best. Let yourself be content with your own strengths and weaknesses.
So, to all of your very own middle-aged-cupcake-shop challengers in your lives, smile politely as you (metaphorically of course) raise your finger high in the air and continue eating your cupcake. You don't need to defend your happiness to anyone, let alone to anyone who disrespects you and your goals. Whatever you decide to do in your life, make sure it makes you happy. It won't always be easy and it might seem like a long road ahead of you, but it's one hell of a ride that you will be so glad you took. Good luck out there; it's a crazy but beautiful journey.
