"So what are you majoring in?"
Over the last two years, I've grown to hate this question -- not because I dislike my major or dislike sharing what I'm interested in, but because of the response I usually get to it.
"I'm a communications major," I tell them.
I wait for the response that I usually get -- the slight hesitation, maybe a smirk or amused look, and the quick judgment that so many people make based on my answer.
"Oh... That must be fun."
You know what, it is fun. I think it's fun because I'm studying something that really interests me, something that will help me actually get a job after graduation, and something that is constantly evolving as a field and is integral in shaping the world that we live in.
I'm not a communications major because it's easy, or because I'm dumb, or because I just want to coast through college to say I have a degree in something. I'm a communications major because I recognize the role that communication plays in today's rapidly-globalizing world and I'm interested in being a part of the group of people who shape the world via global communications. In order to be successful nowadays, you need to know how the world works- how information is spread, who is spreading that information, and what information isn't being spread and why not. Majoring in communications gives you insight into how different facets of the world all work together -- businesses, governments, individuals -- to spread information, and how to tailor information efficiently to reach diverse and different groups of people.
Just because I'm not taking a math-heavy or science-heavy course load doesn't mean that my classes are easy or that I couldn't handle those types of classes. I don't like science. Math has never been my favorite class. Knowing this about myself, I know that I don't want to do something in the future that requires me to spend all my time doing things that don't interest me -- my time is so much better spent on focusing on what I do like and what I'm good at. I'll be more efficient and more successful at doing something I care about, not something that bores me.
Being a communications major doesn't mean that I'm lazy and have no plans for the future. As a communications major, I learn skills that employers across fields desire in future employees -- critical thinking skills, public speaking and rhetoric skills, analysis and problem-solving skills. Hundreds of the most successful business people in the U.S. majored in communications or other "easy" college majors. Communications majors go on to work in all different types of job fields, not just media. The options are truly endless for communications majors -- media, business, human resources, public relations, marketing, advertising, healthcare, law, government and politics, education.
I chose to be a communications major because it's something that interests me and something that matters in the world today. Studying communications not only gives me many potential opportunities for jobs across different fields after graduation, but it gives me the skills I need to be competitive and successful in those fields. I'm not dumb, lazy, or unmotivated -- I know what I want to do, and I'm gaining the skills I need to do it well.
