It is all too often that I get criticized and laughed at for my major by people who have no idea what it entails. Throughout this article, when I say you, I am not referring to you the reader, but to you the people who do this ridiculousness, which may or may not include you (the reader) personally. Yes, I am majoring in Communication Studies, but before you joke about how easy it is, maybe you should make sure you know what being a Communication Studies major means. I highly doubt that if you are one of those people making fun of my major, you even know it is Communication Studies instead of just Communications. It is more than just talking to people, and I along with everyone else in the major, would appreciate it if you just shut up about how stupid you think our major is. Odds are, we probably think the same about yours. Communications Studies is the study of verbal and nonverbal communication across the various forms of communication, using different theories and methods. I dare you, whatever your major is, to take one of my upper level classes and still say Communication Studies is a joke, because it isn’t. Learning the hundreds of different theories isn’t easy, and it changes you as a person. I do not remotely communicate the same way I did when I was a freshman. I learned how to use these theories to get the information I need, I learned how to control my communication in ways others cannot. I have developed more skills than most college studies have, and learned so much.
I highly doubt that the people saying Communication Studies is stupid even know the types of courses we take. I have the opportunity to take classes strictly enhancing my interviewing skills. I can learn how to event plan for a variety of clients. I have taken classes on argumentation and persuasion. While business majors may know the business aspect of selling something, they don’t know the proper ways to communicate; and studies show that they struggle to adapt in the work place because of this. As a Communication Studies major, there is so much other there for us to do; we’re not restricted like Accounting majors are to, well, be an accountant. We can be event planners, advocates, managers, human recourse workers, and so much more–our options are nearly endless.
I came into college wanting to go into Communication Studies because it is what I enjoy learning. I have had extremely difficult classes like learning the rhetorical paradigms used to study communication and other hard classes, but I loved each one. I love my major. So, the next time you want to make fun of someone for studying Communication Studies, I suggest you shut up because it makes them happy. How would you feel if I ripped your Secondary Education major to shreds because I thought it was stupid? Probably pretty bad, right? Exactly. So stop making fun of us for doing what we love, we don’t do it to you. Don’t pretend you know what we experience if you haven’t dealt with it first hand.