I’m so sick of people belittling majors for being “easy.”
Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about. You meet someone new and one of the first conversation starters is, “What’s your major?” If your answer is something in the humanities, performing arts, communications, or social sciences, most of the time the comments are something along the lines of “Oh, cool,” or “Oh, that’s not too hard.” If you’re really lucky, you’ll hear, Wwhat do you want to do with that?” As a history major, I also get hit with the, “Ugh, I hated history in high school. I don’t get how you do it.” Meanwhile, if your response is a hard science, engineering, or something business related, you get responses like, “Wow, good for you!” or “That can’t be easy.” See my issue?
Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that majors that are generally considered difficult are not, because the idea of being a biochemistry or accounting major makes me cringe. Challenge not accepted. However, just because I’m not doing math or conducting labs or handling finances does not mean I am not working just as hard for my degree.
Majors vary in how they are difficult. Some require formulas and hard logic, while others require lots of reading and writing, while yet there are still others that test your skills creatively. Yes, there is a difference between a biology lab report, a research paper on George Washington, and a psychology experiment. I understand that. But there are people who excel at writing essays and suck at anything related to math or science, and vice versa. Just because the major does not sound hard, it doesn’t mean that it’s not hard.
Another important point that people do not realize is that any major is hard if you actually work for it. Having the mentality “Cs get degrees” is one thing, but working for your grade is a whole other story. If the bare minimum is done, then sure, just about any major can really be “easy.” It’s the assignments where you’re locked away in the library for hours hard at work and stressing out that make it hard no matter what the assignment is. People who put others down for not having a “hard” major need to realize that college is not designed to be easy. College is designed to push you to your maximum potential and to allow you to excel in what you do best, whether it is chemical engineering or art history.
At the end of the day, what really matters is to pick a major that you love and that inspires you. What makes a major easy is the passion for it and the desire to actually learn the content. Do what you love, love what you do, and ignore the people telling you that your major is a joke or that there are no real challenges. A hard science major is no better than a social science major, but the opposite also applies. Everyone eventually finds a goal for college, and you should pick the major that will get you there.
