"An English major? What exactly do you plan on doing with that?"
"You want to write? Is that smart? You know print is a dying industry."
"Are you sure?"
Yes, I am sure. And if I had a dollar for every time I heard one of these, I'd be a millionaire already.
Everyone comes to college for different reasons- some come to ensure they make lots of money, others come for job stability and some of us come for the sheer simplicity of doing more of what we love. Whether that's English, Art, Philosophy or even wine (yes, it's real), every major is a valid major. The career market may be shifting to STEM and engineering, but that doesn't make less mainstream majors invalid.
It's not just other college students who give each other hell for their majors, either. Business Insider published an entire article titled, "If You Get an English Degree in College, You're Going to End Up Working in a Shoe Store," calling English majors "soft."
Contrary to popular believe, English majors do not typically end up working in shoe stores. In fact, some wildly successful people have bachelor's degrees in English, including Mitt Romney, Barbara Walters, Steven Spielberg and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The bottom line is, I shouldn't have to defend my major with articles and statistics to anybody. I shouldn't have to defend it at all.
Writing has always been the only thing I've been immensely passionate about, no matter where I am in my life, and no matter the climate of the world around me. Writing has always been a release and a safe place. For me, having a career centered around what I love most in the whole world is far more important than monetary stability or having a prestigious job title.
I would rather live in a tiny studio apartment with shoddy furniture and appliances that barely work and get to do what I'm passionate about than live in a mansion and hate my career.
Not everyone shares my views, and that's OK too. A major is a major, and every single major deserves respect equally.
The solution is a very simple one, yet one almost every person I know struggles with: let people do what they love, even if you don't agree with it. Let people be who they are.
Love your major, and let me love mine.
