Allow me to preface this article by saying every college major is a respectable path to follow. However, I think there is a common trend to think that science, mathematics, and engineering majors are much more difficult majors than the social sciences, or english majors for instance. As a student of the social sciences I found myself having a hard time getting the thoughts out of my head that my major is passive even though I know I find it very engaging and work very hard for it. If you find yourself caught in the same mindset, here are some things to think about.
Time and time again when I tell people that I study philosophy, economics, and politics they’ve said, “and do you have a plan for your future with that?” The same question is never asked to engineering majors, or nursing majors. An engineer major once said to me, “anyone can get an A in a politics course, engineering is tough though.” That caught me off guard and I let it get to my head.
Where would we be without Kharl Marx? Aristotle? Shakespeare? Society would be a jumbled up mess full of violence, confusion, and separation (well, much worse than it already is). Studying how the world works is essential to its preservation. As the highbrow Teddy Roosevelt once said, “the more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.”
Studying politics doesn’t mean all you know is how to understand the United States constitution, studying economics does not mean you’ve only mastered how to explain supply and demand, and studying philosophy does not mean the only thing you can do is understand complicated literature. Within studying all of these things, I’ve acquired writing, listening, and speaking skills that already serve me. As I have matured and continued my studies in the social sciences, I’ve found it easier to hold an engaging conversation while speaking and thinking more cohesively.
There are tons of interesting ideas regarding the necessities of a strong engagement in the humanities. I spoke to my cousin about the insecurities I felt about my studies. He studied economics in undergrad and is currently pursuing his law degree. He spoke to how he left undergrad prepared to face a plethora of potential jobs, whereas engineering, or computer science degrees are quite specific. Again, there is nothing wrong with a targeted job; however, he spoke to how impressive and valuable all the many skills gained in a liberal arts degree are. I think somewhere in my brain I already knew that, but I felt validated hearing another person studying similar things say it.
This feeling of content and pride with what you are studying is definitely something I have had to work at. Once you’ve realized that the only opinion that really matters is yours, you’ll see that if others can’t see how awesome what you want to achieve is, that’s their problem. And, if you’re already there, I’m glad to see it!
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