When I am truly committed to ignoring my responsibilities I turn to Snapchat. I typically go through my friends’ Snapchat stories and then head up to the Discover Snapchat Channels. My top three channels are Tastemade, Cosmopolitan, and Buzzfeed. On days when my procrastination game is strong, I browse through more than just my top three channels. About three weeks ago I browsed through a channel called Brother and came across an article with a title along the lines of, If you want money, don’t choose these majors. You know what lists I'm talking about, they usually look something like this.
Curiosity led me to swipe up and as I scrolled through my heart dropped a little as I saw my major and one of my minors on the list. Under the communications heading a sentence said that people have romanticized the field of journalism, the average income was listed as well. For sociology a sentence read something along the lines of that a majority of sociology majors end up working as social workers. The reason my heart sank when I read this article is because this is not the first time I’ve read articles that list majors that make the least amount of money. However, after some deep thinking and soul searching I only have one thing to say…STOP!
To the people who compose these lists, just stop. Do you really think that a majority of students don’t look up what possible careers they can obtain with their major? Do you really think that some students don’t already know how much money they will potentially make with the major that they have? Did it ever occur to you that maybe students choose “unsuccessful” majors because they want to push the societal norms of what success is and want to pursue something that they have passion for?
Believe it or not, not everyone can be doctors and scientists. We can’t parade around and say which majors are easy. Yes some are more mathematic or research driven than others but that does not mean that they are harder than visual art, dance, communication studies, or teaching. Each person’s skillsets are different. An art student may not be able to tell you how to find the standard deviation of a statistic equation, but can a biology student breakdown the concept of fats and lipids well enough to explain it to a seven year old? If everything in this world were easy than we would all have the same hobbies and goals in life.
To the people who see their majors on these lists, stop reading these types of lists. For one, you truly cannot believe everything you read on the Internet. Secondly, why would you let a list determine your future? If money is truly your motivation in life then change your major to a more lucrative one and minor in what you’re currently majoring in. You are allowed to push boundaries and follow your passion; you can be the person that defies the odds, if you really want it. Do extensive research; maybe there is a job in your field that pays really well. For example, journalism isn’t the only field a communications major can go into. Public relations is another field and P.R people can end up with a six-figure paycheck.
One of my pet peeves is when someone tries to determine my choices or future. I will not be having any of that, not today. I know what type of work ethic I possess and know what I want to be in life. I will not let some silly article tell me where my future is headed.
