The other day, my dad told me about a conversation he had while on the golf course and it went something along these lines: he and another man were discussing their children, and my dad mentioned that I was going into my second year of college. Naturally, the other man asked what my major is. His reaction to my dad's answer — that I'm a creative writing major — follows perfectly in a long-running trend that comes when a major is considered to be silly, useless, or not as sophisticated as a science or math-based major. The man asked why I would major in writing instead of business.

When my dad told me this story, I was not fazed by the man's response, because it is one I have encountered time and time again. In high school, my advisor tried everything in the book to try and nudge me closer to math or business, only to shake her head when she found that I was too stuck in my ways, too focused on what I wanted. The list of these encounters goes on and on, from passing comments that creative writing is a "joke major" or that I'd better have a good backup plan.

But why should this be the case? Why should I have to listen to these comments undermining my interests and passions by people that I don't know, just because the common view is that anything that won't lead you into a medical field or to Wall Street is useless?

I do not mean to say that science, math, and business majors aren't important. They certainly are.

However, my point is they aren't the only majors that matter.

Education, art, music, philosophy, creative writing, and more are all needed in life just as much as the future stock broker or engineer. No, I won't be wearing a lab coat in the years to come, but that does not give anyone the right to shrug off what I do and call it a waste of potential, useless, or childish.

During his conversation with the man, my dad brought up a point that I feel the need to mention — in the coming years, we cannot be certain what industry will need the young talent coming out of college. When it was once thought that there would always be a need for people to know how to change wagon wheels, cars replaced wagons and jobs became obsolete. So who's to say that I have any less of a chance to get a job in the future over someone with any other degree?

The way I see it is that people need to stop saying that one major is better over another. Majors and minors are so different, just as an equation is different from a poem. Dare I say it, all fields are linked together in a way that is beyond comprehension, and certainly beyond looking down or scoffing at one another. Without teachers, young kids would not have the educated professionals to teach them math or science, while journalists spread the word about the happenings in the stock market in their articles and papers.

I respect your majors and minors, I do, so please don't question my choice for my life. It's my life, not yours, and you might just need me in the future.