No matter what school you go to or how many people are around, you are almost always in the company of someone who has a different major than you. If you are like me, you have had your major picked out from a young age. You could also be on the other end of the spectrum: you could have realized later in life what you wanted to pursue. There is also the undecided route. Something I think most people forget is that your major isn’t directly correlated with intelligence level, and assumptions shouldn’t be made about someone’s intelligence based on their major.
Elementary Education- “You probably just color all day”, “you are basically a babysitter” and also “you could be doing so much more with your life”
“Is it because you aren’t good at any subject?”
Then, of course, there are the people that comment on the lack of money I will make yearly.
“Wow, are you crazy?”
“Good luck finding a job!”
“Why are you complaining about classes? Isn’t education easy?”
Each school may or may not be known for excelling in a certain area. People within certain fields are usual considered gods. They are the “smartest” and untouchable by everyone else. This is false; they are just students like everyone else. They just happen to excel, enjoy, or have chosen a different path then you.
Within Her Campus and other organizations, so many other majors are represented. For example:
Business– “Business and the social sciences all minor in drinking all day”
“You’re too smart for your major”
“Business isn’t a real major like the sciences”
Anthropology– “That’s not a real science”
Biology– “If Medical School doesn’t work out you’ll have no options”
Communications- “You shouldn’t even be in college for your major”
“So you major in talking to people?”
“Do you have classes with all the student athletes?”
Psych– “Your GPA is only so high because you are a psych major.”
English – “What are you going to do with that?”
Though not every major is represented in this article that does not mean they aren’t bombarded with negative comments, too. These are just a few examples and only some anecdotes people have heard; many more negative comments are probably said or thought daily.
I did mention that these happen casually in conversations, but I might actually be mistaken, at least in my own mind. Usually these backhanded comments are one sided, the person speaks their mind and the conversation is over since they have gotten their point across. Everyone has the right to their own opinion, but when it is insulting and judgmental it crosses some lines. We go through so much during college that already shakes our confidence. Why add this to the mix and create even more damage?
There is nothing wrong with asking questions or having concerns for someone in your life. But degrading something they are passionate about is not the way to get your point across. With so many options in college in what to study, there really is an option for everyone. Let them enjoy that freedom and don’t knock them down for their choices.
Every major is valuable to your school and society over all. We should not be judging fellow students by their major, just as we were told not to judge a book by its cover.