Bashing Majors

By Dayanne Garcia on October 14, 2013

Major bashing is criticizing someone’s major and assuming that it’s not as difficult as yours. I hear rude and disrespectful comments around campus, my home and my friends almost every day. The comments aren’t just rude and discouraging to the student pursuing their dream. Major bashing attempts to lessen the value of a job. Everyone is challenged differently. We can’t expect everyone to study the same thing. How do we expect to keep this world going round?

One of the most popular comments I’ve heard about someone’s major is that they won’t get a job. If you don’t study something in science, math, engineering or law you then there’s no job in the entire world for you, according to my college friends. Assuming that someone won’t get a job based on the undergraduate major they have chosen is foolish. For one, anyone can study and earn a degree in a popular major but that doesn’t mean they will get a job. A major will not be the only determining component. Factors such as presentation, experience and determination are what get someone a job. Second, the major doesn’t determine the job. Anyone can major in biology but go to law school and vise versa. Its unfair and inaccurate to bash someone for studying what (s)he enjoys by assuming that they won’t get a job.

One of the most irritating comments students make regarding majors is that certain majors aren’t as hard as others. My roommate constantly complains about her school workload. As a Biology major she’s taking three classes and two labs that accompany the classes. She is constantly criticizing my roommate who’s a psychology major. She makes comments about her not comprehending what it’s like to be in a hard major. There’s no doubt my housemate has a heavy schedule and heavy workload to accompany it but that doesn’t mean a psychology major is easier. Each major involves different homework, readings and subjects. As a law major my workload consists of reading and memorizing cases, dates and of course, laws. As a stem major, my housemate takes more math and science classes than I do. She takes biology and chemistry, which involve more problem solving. My major has a rough workload because I have to read long chapters for every class and the cases they discuss. Every major is different. Just because their workloads are different doesn’t mean they’re any easier or any less valuable. All that matters is that the student feels challenged and content with their major.

Major Bashing leads to students regretting or rethinking the career they have chosen to pursue. We’ve forgotten that the job we chose to have will be our job forever. If my roommate decided she wants to be a psychologist instead of a doctor it’s because that’s the path she has chosen to take. Disapproving and making assumptions about what her future will look like is thoughtless and foul. My housemate can’t write an essay to save her life but she’s amazing at science and math. I can’t get past pre-calculus but I’ve done well in my law classes. We are all challenged in different ways. Besides, we must remember that the world needs doctors, engineers, lawyers, artists, teachers, psychologists, etc too keep the country successful, not just “hard jobs.”

 

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