Every major, and minor, has some sort of stereotype associated with that area of study.
What is a stereotype anyway? According to vocabulary.com, a stereotype is “a perceived notion, especially about a group of people.” There are positive and negative stereotypes out there and they come up when we, as college students, are asked: “What’s your major?” When you proudly answer them, they give you this look and start asking questions like, “What are you going to do with that?” They might even make statements like, “Your major is easy and you just wanted to get out quick” and “You must like this because of this.”
I remember coming to college with this idea of what I wanted to do with my life and I thought I had it all planned out. Well, by the end of my freshmen year, my major changed several times, and each change came with different people and their opinions. I listened to what they said, but none of them spoke from actual experience. I had to learn about my major on my own.
When you think of a music major what comes to mind? Someone who is musically gifted that plays an instrument or sings. What about someone in history? That this should be a hobby or a side interest. Have you ever tried to look past your original thought of a major?
Think about this: Not all criminal justice majors want to become police officers. Not all theater majors are hipsters and have a big ego. Not all nursing majors want to go work for a trauma center. Not all communications majors want to go work for a major news company. Not all English majors want to go on to write a novel. Not all economic majors are greedy or immoral. Not all psychology majors want to be a counselor. An undeclared student is not unintelligent.
From Computer Science to Engineering, Biology to Psychology, Business to Economics and everything in between, certain people are meant to do work in that field. Every major comes with its ups and downs, the easy and hard moments and the moments that make you realize you are doing what you are meant to do.
The bottom line is that you are not your major’s stereotype.
Photo Credit/ Flickr
