Are you considering majoring in the humanities? Me too.
You probably get a lot of uncomfortable looks from your peers and maybe even a few from your parents. You probably hear the question "What can you even do with a humanities major?" a lot, too. Or that it's a "useless" degree. But is it really useless? Here are a few people with a humanities degree who would argue otherwise:
Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican presidential candidate- English
Conan O'Brien, popular comedian- History and American Literature
Carly Fiorina, 2016 Presidential hopeful and former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Medieval History and Philosophy
Clarence Thomas, former Supreme Court Justice- English
Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense- History
Ted Turner, founder of CNN- Classics
Did you know that almost 60% of CEOs have Humanities Degrees? Pretty cool, right?
You probably get a lot of comments on how you're going to be unemployed after graduation too, but is it really as bad as people make it sound? Not at all.
A Georgetown study found that humanities majors have a 9.1 percent unemployment rate right out of college. Computer science and math majors have a 9 percent unemployment rate. The national average is 7.9 percent. Not too shabby.
According to the study, the most underemployed college major is actually business.
You know what else is great about majoring in the humanities? It's hard for a computer to steal your job. Computers can do a lot of number crunching, but they lack the human interaction skills of a humanities major. Even with the technology of the day, computers still have trouble showing empathy and connecting with people on a personal level.
That's another great thing about majoring in the humanities. It has the word "human" in it for a reason. You're essentially studying humanity so you learn to understand people. Your people skills become fantastic. You're well-read with a pretty expansive vocabulary that you know when and when not to use. You learn how to argue and be persuasive. Those are valuable skills that employers look for, believe it or not.
More importantly, there's no sense in majoring in something you're not passionate about. If you want to become an engineer because you're interested in the pay, you're picking the wrong major. First of all, there's no sense in being miserable every day for the rest of your working career.
Also, what separates someone from being average at their job from being fantastic at their job is their enthusiasm and passion. If you're passionate about something, you're going to work harder on a task. You're going to work harder to succeed in that field.
I know I'm an English major because I love to read and I love to write.
I know I'm not a math major because math makes my brain cry and gives me nightmares.
And that's OK. It's also OK if it's the other way around. One major is not better than another major, but one major may be a better major for you than another one would.
Major in what you want to major in. Major in what you love to do. Work hard. Do your best. Believe in yourself. Don't be discouraged and don't discourage others. You will fail, and that's okay. Part of being successful is taking risks and putting yourself out there, even if it means you fail.
So to answer the question, you can do anything you want with a humanities major. Start a business. Become a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company. Be a politician. Be a Supreme Court Justice. Be the Secretary of Defense. Be happy and love your job.
Yeah, some people might think you're crazy for getting a "useless" degree. But people said Steve Jobs was crazy, too, and this was his response: "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do."
At the end of the day, it's about how hard you work and how good you are at what you do. It's not about what you choose as your major. Your success is determined by your actions, not a piece of paper.
