Instead of asking me "So, do you just, like, read books and write papers?" you might as well just say "I think your major is a joke" because it translates the same way. Yes, I know, you didn't mean it maliciously, but I also know that in the back of your mind, you're wondering why anyone would choose to major in something as ridiculous as English. I mean, what are you going to do with that degree? Teach? Your 9th grade English class was so simple; how could an English major be any harder?

To tell you the truth, I do read a lot of books and write a lot of papers. But it's not your standard two-page compare-and-contrast-this-book-to-the-movie-we-took-four-days-to-watch-in-class paper. It's ten-page use-fifteen-different-works-to-analyze-one-theme-and-how-it-challenged-the-dynamics-of-society-throughout-American-history. It's tough. It's not your 9th grade English class. This is the big leagues.

Now, before you assume I'm going to sit here and start bashing science majors, I'll tell you this: bashing your major just so you take mine seriously is counter-productive. In addition, claiming that I could get by just fine in your major so you should take my major seriously is also counter-productive. You shouldn't respect my major because I could do just fine in yours; you should respect my major because it challenges me and it's what I enjoy doing.

Major bashing is seriously ridiculous. How are you supposed to compare the work you do in a chemistry major to a business major to a history major to a computer science major to a philosophy major to a psychology major to a—

you get my point. The work is incomparable, much like the majors themselves. The point of higher education is to challenge us, and each major is designed to do so in its own way. Just because you don't see it happening (and just because your English 101 class was an easy A) doesn't mean it's not there.