Every day I run into a new person and because we are on a college campus, the first question to come up is "what's your major?" After a few times of hearing people answer with "Physics" or "Graphic Design", I get a little bashful replying with "English". But the part that really sticks with me is the reply I usually get back. "Oh, you have it so easy." I am writing this article for a thousand different people at this point. English majors, college students, non-English teachers, and anyone else who thinks that English majors have it easier than any other college student does.

Yes, I am an English major. Yes, my first language is English. Does that mean my major is easy for me? No, of course not. We have just as much work as any other college student does. Just because it is not the same equivalent to your work, does not make ours significantly easier. We may not be learning how to play a new instrument, or reprogram a complex computer system, but our work piles up too. Reading a new 300-page book in complete Old English text every night and then proceeding to write a ten-page research paper, format a thirty-minute presentation, and breaking a text down and analyzing it to the very word choice the author uses.

Our work may seem easy for some, but the work is continuous, repetitive, and exhausting.

We pull just as many all-nighters, spend as much time in the library as everyone, and need breaks just as much as everyone else is in dire need of one. This continues further into our sequences. If you apply for a sequence in the English major field, your work is more central and formatted to fit your future career. This can mean job shadowing long hours, writing, even more, papers, internships with little to no pay, and, oh yeah. Writing more papers!

I have noticed that it's not just English majors who get this rep of supposedly being easier, but also any other major that does not lead to a job as a doctor, lawyer, or scientist.

Every major has its difficulties. Anyone who lives outside of the field in question does not really have a say in whether the material is easier or not. If it seems like you are doing more work than your opposite major friend, trust me, they don't want to hear that they have it "easy". It makes us feel like we aren't trying as hard or that we should feel ashamed for not doing a certain assignment or study over another book.

Everyone has their own hard work in each major. Your only concern should be focusing on how to succeed in your major, and not stress about who has it easy and who has it rough. College can be difficult for everyone. I am not ashamed of the major I have chosen, nor do I care about your opinion on the major I have chosen. Just work as hard as you can and you will succeed in the end like everyone else that works hard as well.