One of the best parts of college is having the ability to study what you want in college as opposed to what you have to in high school. It’s extremely freeing to be able to take hold of your education and study something you’re really passionate about. The problem is, not every passion is profitable; I would make a career of petting dogs if I could, but I would also like to afford food. That’s a silly example, but, unfortunately, students hear things all the time like…
“That’s a dumb major.”
‘Why would you study that?”
“You’ll never make any money in that field.”
It’s called major shaming, and it’s not cool.
Simply put, major shaming is mocking or putting down a person’s choice of major for one reason or another. It can mean telling someone their major is too common or too obscure for them to get a good/well paying job, telling someone the work they do isn’t “hard” or “real work,” or bringing up other untrue and disrespectful stereotypes or generalizations. It can come from anywhere, at any time: from senior year of high school to past graduation, sometimes in the form of microaggressions that people may not even realize they’re committing. A close friend misinterprets what you said about her program and responds back sarcastically. Your roommate snaps after pulling an all nighter studying while you watched Netflix all evening and went to bed at a reasonable time. Minor things, nothing more than occasional pokes from a needle, but they can start to sting when they add up.
At a time like this, when you’re making one of the biggest decisions of your life thus far, it can be hard when you face countless questions about what you want to do. It’s especially difficult when these questions come from the people closest to you, whose opinions really matter to you. Family, friends, counselors, and teachers may not always understand where you’re coming from or what you want to do, which is what leads to the dreaded question of “well, what would you do with that.”
I don’t want you to leave with the impression that it is common here, because it isn’t, and that’s part of what makes going Naz awesome. So many people on campus care about you and what you’re doing. One of the things I love most about this school is the community and camaraderie within and across programs. That’s something you don’t find everywhere, especially at bigger schools with large lectures where you can’t get to know the people in your classes as well. At Naz, students and professors I’ve only had one class with or clerical staff I’ve interacted with only a handful of times will ask me what I’m up to now and how my studies are going, and actually want to hear the answer. Our campus is proud of diversity in many forms, including diversity of interests, and people here recognize that the societal value of a music major is equal to that of a biology major, which is equal to that of a political science major and so on. Our Uncommon Core helps build this as well, as you’re required to take one class in eight different fields and only one of your three Integrative Studies courses can be from your major area, which forces you to step out of your comfort zone. Even if it’s not what you want to do, you can get an idea of why it’s important and why other people are passionate about it.
Entering college is the time to push aside the naysayers, even if they are the people closest to you, and be true to yourself and honest about what YOU want to do. It’s so important that the college you choose has a good program for what you want, even what you remotely think you want, just in case. I applied for schools and came into college undeclared, but from what I knew about the field of communications, it was most likely the field for me. My other top choice school didn’t have a specific communications major and just had you default to the business program. Everyday I’m thankful for the choice I made because I don’t think I ever would have been happy with that as my only major and my closest option to communications, and Naz has a great program that I’ve been able to learn and grow within.
We have such a wide variety of majors and minors here that it’s not exaggeration when we say there is something for everyone. Plus, while Naz is a liberal arts college, we also have extremely strong science and human services programs, especially our 3+3 options. So, if you’re torn between a few fields or disciplines, we have you covered. About half of the people I know (myself included) now have a major or double major in a field that they didn’t originally come to college in, and they were lucky that Naz was able to help then make the transition to what they really want to do. This isn’t the time to settle, so keep your options open, even if one of those options isn’t widely supported by those around you. The reality is, if it isn’t necessary in society, there wouldn’t be a major for it, and we need people like you out there doing what you love.