To give what I’m going to say a bit of background, I’ve always had a love for science. Ever since I was little (before I could even read), I loved looking though anatomy books and watching medical TV shows and science documentaries about the universe. My dad helped grow this interest as he was a medic in the Navy, and today he is a computer engineer and a gardener (I genuinely don’t know anyone that digs science as much as he does).

Fast forward to high school, I had an amazing biology teacher who had a deep infatuation with the subject, and she saw my love for science as well and encouraged me to do biology in college. To this date, my love for science has not left me, and I’m currently on the pre-med track (wish me luck). I genuinely don’t know how I got lucky enough to know exactly what I wanted to do in college, but I did nonetheless.

Another important part of my life has been music. I started playing cello in the sixth grade. I didn’t really pay attention to it that much until high school through the push my private lesson teacher and high school orchestra director gave me. I’ve been playing for youth and college symphonies for about four years now, and to this day I am left astounded by the things music has given me in my life. I went to music competitions in high school (solo and ensemble), so music taught me how to compete with myself.

Watching your skills grow over time because of the work you put into your talent or skill is a really cool thing to watch. I never did theater myself, but musical theater is something I admired since I was little as well. Just about every friend I have had for the past seven years are musicians/theater geeks too. These friends have given me the world, and I can’t imagine my life without them.

However, lately I noticed that there is a sort of hierarchy placed on the arts and science. People in the STEM field have been bashing those in the arts (and vice versa), and to be honest, I don’t really see the need, as both science and the arts have given me important things in my life.

Science has given me the tools to understand the world. From evolution to the Calvin cycle, without having science to explain the inner workings of the world, the world wouldn’t be able to make the advancements it has. Without science, there would be no technology, medicine or space exploration, and society would be nowhere near as developed. Science is not trivial. It’s a tough field to understand, and it is a crucial field for societal advancement. There is a good and valid reason behind why STEM fields are the best-paying fields out there. I’ve been drawn to science because of its power to completely change the world as we know it.

But here’s the thing:

The arts (whether liberal arts, theater or music) can change the world too, just in a different way. I said that most of the friends I have had for the past decade do music and theater. To me, this is because music and the arts give us the tools to relate to and empathize with people. Using theater, music and writing as a language to understand and relate to human emotion is important yet underestimated. Theater, music, and liberal arts are fields that make us good listeners and communicators. What good is doing scientific research if you have no ability to communicate it to the general public in a way they can relate to? And trust me, no one likes a doctor who can’t listen or empathize.

Math and science both require a certain level of creativity that can be further developed with the arts. The arts teach you to think outside the box, which is important when you’re trying to develop an experiment. Also, a creative mind can certainly help a mathematician.

Yet, I have seen math geniuses have a hard time understanding music, and I’ve seen people in the science field seriously struggle to write. I’ve also seen musical geniuses struggle to solve pretty simple equations (Don't get me wrong, I’m not amazing at math myself don’t get me wrong, but I'm good enough to get by). If you just don’t have the skills or affinity for one of these subjects, that is okay. If you’re good at math and science and can rock a musical instrument, all the better.

However, science and the arts are both necessary and important fields, and I think it's time to accept that. If you’re good at math, don’t bash the artsy kids. Yet, the ability to write and play music is no more important than developing technology or important equations. Let’s gets rid of the hierarchy that surrounds math and the arts.

Both are important.