If there is one thing that all students can relate to, it's that any time we leave the sanctity of our apartment or dorm room to go home and celebrate the holidays with relatives with family we get asked the famous obligatory question

"So, what is it that you study at school?"

There many forms of this question, but it's all trying to get at one thing. People just want to know what your major is. There are some people that can outmaneuver this cheesy question quite easily because their program is something recognizable like engineering, English, economics, chemistry, education, and all that. Those majors have been around forever. However, I don't get that luxury because I major in a program called technical communication.

I swear that every time I answer this question and tell people my major, every subsequent question that comes out of their mouth and every subsequent response that comes out of my mouth follows a precise script pretty much every single time. It goes like this:

1. "What are you studying in school?"

Technical Writing and Communications. People in the major just call it Tech Com, short for technical communications. It's a bachelor of science program.

2. "I've never heard of that. What's technical communication?"

Well, technical communication is a whole lot of things, but it's all trying to get at one concept. The concept is communication that helps consumers use or understand a company's particular product or service. Lots of things could be considered technical communication, everything from a manual that comes with your cell phone to a cookbook with recipes.

3. "Well, can't anyone do that job?"

Sure, but not a lot of people can do it well. You don't want your product or services to be miscommunicated because that looks bad for the company. You want people who have studied rhetoric, genre, writing, editing, design and the company's product to get the job done right the first time, not some engineer who's got better things to do. He or she would make everything sound too technical, which wouldn't be user-friendly.

4. "So you just want to write manuals your whole life?"

Oh gosh no. Manuals are just an example of technical communication. Technical writers and communicators are used for all sorts of projects in all sorts of fields. In my time building work experience, I've done everything from graphic designing for a nonprofit, to website building for an environmental organization, to document design for an HVAC company, to writing intelligence reports for CEO's of private equity firms to read. The real skills you learn in this major is how to take what a company wants to convey and present it in a way that their target audience will respond well to it. That can be applied in a butt load of ways.

5. "Wow okay, so what do you want to do with this degree?"

I've always wanted to get a Ph.D. and learn something awesome about communication. I'm really interested in how trends of minimalism have caught on in technical communication even though it inherently doesn't communicate much information to the consumer. Apple is a really good example of minimalistic technical writing. Maybe I'll take that on later in life.

For now, I'm interested in design and usability. I love critiquing a document or a website for when things aren't clear or they don't make sense, so I would love to be able to do that as a job. I'm thinking of working my way up to being a creative director since they are the ones that dictate how a company's material should look and be used. They're kind of like a company's overlord of technical communication.

6. "Would technical writing pay you enough and be a stable job?"

Technical writers can earn quite a decent sum with just a bachelor's degree and a couple years of experience. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that on average, technical writers make about $70,000 a year, and the field is expected to grow 11% from 2014 to 2016, which is considered faster than other jobs in the United States. Every company needs a technical writer of some kind, and I've found myself working in multiple industries already. I won't have to worry. If I get bored, I could always try a related field to technical communication such as working as an editor, public relations specialist, translator, author, graphic designer and so on.

7. "Wow, you sound like you've got it together."

Thank you!

That's how it goes pretty much every single time. People usually learn more than they bargained for but it's always my pleasure to let me know that I'm finding something to do with my life, you know? I dread the conversation because it's always going to be the same, but the reaction is always positive. People are impressed with how much I've grown and it makes me feel validated for the work I've put in. It's a big world, and I enjoy knowing that I'm doing something unique and paving my own path.