Your major is not better than me

ABBY GENTRY | OPINION EDITOR

There seems to be a common knowledge of an unofficial major hierarchy. I do not know how it came about or why it exists but there are some majors that receive different treatment, responses, and reactions than others. For some reason, at some point in time, someone decided that science and business related majors were significantly more important than communication studies, English, or fine arts.

Personally, I believe that one major is not more important or more needed than the other. In reality, we need a little bit of everything to have a functioning school and society. Thank God there are people out there who have the desire to be doctors and lawyers because that’s sure not going to be me. On the other hand, those doctors and lawyers should be thankful that there are people who want to be journalists and artists because we need those just as much.

I often hear things said along the lines of, “I wish I could just be an English major;” and this frustrates me to no end. Yes, you could be an English major, but you chose not to-—just how I chose not to be a biology major.

You are not better than I because you spend your time in labs and I spend my time writing papers and articles. I do not know how one begins to end this stigma but I think it starts with having a respect and awareness for different students, departments, and what they are contributing to our school.

There is no such thing as a completely useless class or a useless major. What is interesting to me might be completely irrelevant to someone else. Rather than shoot down some of these classes or areas of study, try to gain perspective on why they might be useful and interesting to someone else.

Luckily, I have people around me that support me in my passions and the things I am actively chasing. I hope that anyone who says that their major or area of interest is irrelevant or unimportant has someone reminding them how needed they are. We get nowhere worrying about the things we believe we are not and the things we believe we should be. Rather, we should focus on the incredible things we are able to contribute by pursuing our passions.