Growing up, everybody always told me that the best kind of job was one that you loved so much that it didn't seem like work. With this in mind, I chose my major, only to discover that what made me happy wasn't something people immediately, or ever, respected. You see, I'm a social science major, more specifically sociology, but when I introduce myself to new people and the question of my major inevitably comes up, I make sure to tell everyone I'm Pre-Law because that means something to people.
I learned pretty quickly that in college, there were majors that made people take notice and others that made people assume you were here for nothing more than an MRS degree. The major I chose (and love) fell into that last category. Why are people so concerned if I graduate with a degree in sociology? Why have so many people told me that I better have a backup plan because there is no way I'll get a job with that degree? Like so many other aspects of life, degrees have become something we've placed a value on, ranking each one as more or less desirable and respectable than the next. What purpose does this serve? What good does it do? What we're essentially telling kids isn't "do what you love," it's more along the lines of "do what makes the best money and learn to like it". Why should I get a degree in X, when a degree in Y is what is going to make me happy? So maybe I'll have to work a little harder to find a job, or maybe, like with so many other things, society has this narrow scope and what we are taught is true, isn't.
I can only speak for myself when I say that sociology, which "offers no jobs," has countless options career-wise, and if I wasn't set on law school, being a sociologist would be my dream. I didn't come to school to get a degree in what my parents, friends, or peers wanted; I came with myself in mind. Every day I wake up excited to attend my major-related classes and learn about the field of study I've grown so fond of. Every time someone tells me that I won't find a job or gives me "that look," they, conscious or not, are taking a jab at what I love and what I hope to become. So stop demeaning other people for what they choose to study. It might not be what you imagined, but what right does that give you to tell someone they're wrong?
