Throughout my entire time in college, business students have been known to be at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to how easy our major is. There’s jokes about how our finals are coloring books and complaints about how business students don’t have classes on Fridays (this complaint has substance, but other departments can also have no classes on Friday). From the dedicated finance bros to rich frat kids, there’s usually a negative stereotype about everyone in the business school.
I usually laugh at these jokes, and sometimes even agree with them. Yes, compared to a pre-med major where I’d be taking chemistry and biology, business is easier for me. There are people who fit the stereotype of a ‘business student,’ even though that can be argued for someone of any major.
Something I’ve started to realize through the years, however, goes much deeper than the shallow jokes thrown at business majors. It’s the toxic and competitive nature of business, and the pressure to succeed as a stand-out student.
Confused on what I’m talking about? Let me lay out a normal day-in-my-life.
I wake up. The first thing I go to on my phone is my email, where there’s emails about career fairs, internships prospects, and some prestigious business award. I head to campus, where pictures of students and alumni are plastered all around the business school, talking about the incredible things they’ve done with their lives. Someone in my class complains about an internship rejection while someone else has just gotten their dream internship at a high profile company—the first thing they mention is how much they’ll be getting paid. Once class is over, I head to a club meeting where they discuss the successes of their members for doing this, that, everything. When I go home, I get on LinkedIn and scroll through the announcements of internships and full-time offers. At the bottom of every post is 20 comments along the lines of “Congratulations.”
As business majors, we are unable to escape the pressure of working for a well-known company, making a ton of money and doing something ‘successful’ with our lives. Make a difference, be the impact, show you’re worthy.
Anything less than that and you’re a failure.
I was a high achieving high school student; I only focused on my grades, staying at the top of my class and doing every club imaginable to look prospective to colleges. I was told that once you’re in college, the grades don’t matter that much. Everyone is on the same playing field; everyone is working for the same thing. Even in high school, I heard the stereotypes of business and how easy it was supposed to be.
Instead, I was thrown into a world that was so much more competitive than what I previously knew. I became more stressed about my grades and started to compare myself to everyone in my class. And for the first time, honestly, I wasn’t the one on top. While hearing a success story is inspiring, it can sometimes have the opposite effect where a student will feel that they will never be able to become as good as the person they’re showcasing.
I’m sure this is a universal feeling for every major, but I can only speak on business students and how some of us feel. Business majors are teased relentlessly, but in reality it’s difficult for us too, just in a different way. College always seems to promote two opposites: ‘stay in the present and enjoy yourself,’ but also ‘figure out your entire future, down to where you’ll live and how many dogs you’ll own.’
For me, college has been a journey of recognizing my self-worth to be more than what internship I get or what grades I get in a class. It’s incredibly dangerous to equate your purpose to one thing such as academics; the only person who gets hurt is yourself.
I found it very important to find another interest that wasn’t academics. That way, even if I got a bad grade or a rejection, I could still say “well, I’m a good writer” or “well, I finished that rock climbing problem yesterday.” Something inconvenient was no longer the end of the world; rather, it was something to keep working on and improving for next time.
Surrounding yourself with people who will encourage and cheer you on for any reason is also important. I have a business mentor who used to be the Vice President of Product at Walt Disney Studios; instead of talking about how I need a star-studded internship or to figure out where I want to live for my career, we talk about travel and my Her Campus articles. She recognizes that I am more than a worker at a company while simultaneously keeping me on track for the future that I want to have.
So, to the business braggers, keep bragging—because you deserve what you’ve worked hard for. But to those who don’t have perfect grades or an internship at your dream company, brag too. Brag about all the other amazing things going on in your life, non-academic related.
Everyone is on their own journey through life. We should be proud of just making it through the day—and sometimes, that does require a coloring book.