One of the toughest questions one has to answer when applying to universities is, “What will I major in?” Four years is a quite some time to dedicate one specific subject because it soon becomes your life. You want to make sure it’s something you’re passionate about and something you’ll enjoy for the years to come.
In a recent conversation with my roommates, one who’s in Accounting grad school and the other who’s on the pre-med track studying Biology, they mentioned how easy i must have it since most of my time is spent trying to find a story while they spend hours studying and take classes that I know I would never stand a chance in. But journalism isn’t “easy”. Doctors and people who know a thing or two about money are crucial to society and progress just as journalists are important to telling the truth about the realities of the world. Journalism takes just as much time and dedication.
Along with Journalism being considered “easy” so is, English, philosophy, women’s studies, anthropology, education and sociology, among many others. Pretty much any major that isn’t a science or engineering.
As a journalism major I often hear that it’s a “dying” field and there isn’t much to do with it outside of the college atmosphere of the school paper, distinctive organizations and the classes themselves. Journalism is important and all around and important to the function of daily lives. And no matter where the degree takes me, I’ve already learned so much about the world, just as biology majors know so much about the human body and accountants know how to properly file taxes.
Comparing majors is like comparing apples and oranges, they are different because the people who study them are different. Calling them “easy” is a way to discredit people’s achievements, when they put just as much (or more) effort into succeeding. I too have just as many long nights at the library and coffee is my lifeline during finals week.
Debating which major is the “easiest” is not the thing to do because we are all working hard. College itself isn’t easy, if it were what would be the point? We wouldn’t be truly challenging ourselves. This isn’t a competition so let’s build each other up and get through it together.
Photo Credit: