Being a Communications and Media major at the University of Michigan has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but not for the reasons you may be thinking of.Â
I am by no means struggling in my classes; I can easily say that ECON 101 and MATH 105, which I have taken in preparation for the Business minor at the Ross School of Business, have been far more challenging. My Communication and Media professors and GSIs are kind and knowledgeable, and in their classes I’ve had the opportunity to connect with a variety of industry professionals, like Adam Schefter and Kaitlin Urka at ESPN. However, academic rigor is not what makes my degree difficult.Â
What I hate is how I’m perceived for studying a “useless” major, as more than a few people have told me directly. It is as if hearing the words “Communications and Media” immediately diminishes my intellect in the eyes of my fellow students. Even mentioning the major seems to invite derision and scorn. During the second week of my freshman year, a peer asked me why I even came to Michigan if I was “just” going to study communications. I was shocked by his brazenness—I would have never thought or dared to question his engineering major. Perhaps his reaction is the reason that, whenever I introduce myself to someone new and inevitably rattle off my name, class, and major, I feel the need to tack on my intended minors in political science and business. Ever since arriving in Ann Arbor, I feel the need to prove to others that I am smarter than my major makes me appear.Â
Surrounded by Nursing majors, pre-law students, and aspiring doctors, my insecurity can be exacerbated. It is easy to see their studies as inherently noble and worthy of respect, while mine feels aimlessly broad and comparatively pointless.Â
Although I am exhausted and irritated by the repeated degradation of my major, I have begun to realize that the opinions of others don’t actually matter. Yes, there is a need for lawyers, doctors, nurses, and engineers, but there is also a need for humanities majors, who understand the human experience in a different way. Studying how people interact and shape their identities is just as necessary to understanding and developing society as the progression of medicine and science. Using our strengths together is more potent for making societal improvements than pitting these inherently interconnected subjects against one another.
What I have chosen to study is worthwhile. It does matter to society, and it is crucial in perhaps more unseen ways. Although many may still scorn my major, I know that it is important. I know that if I work hard enough, I can make an impact with my degree. There is a reason I chose this major from the moment I applied to the University of Michigan, and there is a reason I have continued on this path. What others say doesn’t matter unless I choose to put stock in their words, and as a Communications major, I can firmly say I disagree with them completely.