Opinion: Major Respect

All opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Her Campus Chatham.

Today, I overheard two people talking about how much of a joke nursing is because it is one of those majors that is “the easy way to get through college,” because it is “a female job,” and because you basically “don’t even need a nursing degree because all you do is start off as a nursing assistant and then work your way up.”

First of all, may I just say to those people: God bless your hearts. 

Let me just say that I am not a nursing student, and for a reason: I stink at anything science-related (unless it’s psychology) and have an extremely low amount of patience. I don’t have the drive or passion for the field to put in the amount of work that nursing students do to achieve their degree. Nursing is no joke, and I really, truly dare you to try to tell any medical professional otherwise. Nurses are the stitching that keeps a hospital or medical center together. They care for you personally, and our health care system would not be as far along as it is today without nurses (which, may I remind you, INCLUDES MEN who are completely capable of doing a nurse’s job just as women are capable of doing a surgeon’s job. This is 2013. Leave your gender stereotypes in the ‘60s, please.) 

However, I’m not just here to talk about people making fun of nursing majors.

I’m beyond sick in general of people thinking that any major that doesn’t involve Pre-Law, Pre-Med, engineering, and the likes is a complete joke and that a person who is pursuing something otherwise is just dumb or only wants to party in college.

Every major has its difficulties and is challenging in its own way. The work may not be “conventional” like the amount of reading and lab courses that law and medical students have to do, but the work assigned IS meant to test and expand your knowledge in creativity. A person does not have it “easier” just because she is a Communications major, or a Psych major, or heck, even GRASS MANAGEMENT MAJOR (Does that last one even exist? I don’t know, but grass is not something to be joked about, people). Each major comes with its individual difficulties, every major comes with an easier class or two; all majors have both sides of the spectrum.

 I realize this varies school by school, but I know for a fact that every major has a specific list of demands to be met, and if you don’t meet them, you fail. Whether you’re an Art major, a Bio major, or a Social Work major, it doesn’t matter. It’s all the same. I know first hand: I went from being a Public Relations major to Pre-Law with a Psych major to a Psychology and English double major. I originally added a Psych major under the stereotype that it was going to be easier and, guess what…. it’s not!

I just wish people would take more of the time to realize that we are all working towards something (very heartily might I add) and just because someone’s path differs from yours doesn’t mean that you need to go around thinking you are better than her. We are all given different gifts for different reasons, and in some way or another, we are meant to help change the world with these talents. So, stop making fun of other supposedly “less worthy” and “unimportant” majors; chances are, those students are doing something that you are unable to, and you should respect that above all.

 The world would not be a beautiful place without art or writing. The world would not be a safe place without medicine or law. We all go to school to succeed, and we all have to work hard in order to get to the top, regardless of what profession we decide to go into. If anything should be judged, it should be a person’s work ethic, NOT their major or minor.

End rant.

XO,

Alex 

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