Augustana students have been comparing themselves to friends and strangers alike based on choice of major(s) for many years. These comparisons are made based on generalizations about the validity, future use and difficulty of the different majors offered at Augustana. 

Since one of the most frequent icebreaker questions asked during the college years involves discussing majors, the topic is common amongst college students. Generalizations and the comparisons that result from these discussions can be detrimental to the confidence of some students, for majoring in a certain area is a completely personal and individual decision that should not be judged.

It seems like for most students at Augustana, majors are seen in a type of hierarchy where STEM majors are seen as more valid than majors such as philosophy, business or psychology. However, I think comparing majors based on generalizations needs to stop. Comparing majors in a condescending manner targets students who have different interests and aptitudes. 

Being a psychology and communication studies student myself, I find that I am most interested in interpersonal relationships, the effects of communication and mental health problems. I have also found these fields to be something that I connect with and learn about better than something like math. Knowing that many people struggle in interpersonal relationships and that mental health problems are more prevalent in recent years, I decided to major in psychology and communication studies with the intent of helping people through their struggles.

However, even though I chose the majors that were right for me and my future goals, I have heard my fair share of condescending comparisons. I have been told that the only reason I have maintained my grades is because my majors are “easy.” This type of mindset invalidates the hard work that myself and other students in similar majors put into their education. 

The concept of a specific major being easy or difficult is subjective. My majors have been stereotyped as easy by the majority of people I encounter. However, I also have met STEM majors who question my ability to understand the abstract concepts within psychology. 

“I’ve never taken a business class so I wouldn’t be able to say you know, whether personally I think it’s more or less difficult,” Courtney Thames, a sophomore majoring in Neuroscience on the Pre-Med track, said. 

This should be the mindset of all college students. The Business major is commonly considered to be an “easy major” and a blow-off. However, without experiencing a business class, there is no realistic way to compare the difficulty of it to other majors. 

Ashanti Chatman, a junior majoring in French and Pre-Med, explains that some people make judgments and compare themselves to others because they “feel as if they’re less capable or inferior […] since they probably have high standards for themselves. But to hear that someone was like breezing by so easily, well it feels like you’re the only one suffering.” Chatman said that comparisons may help people “feel like it’s okay. It’s not you. It’s them.” 

All things considered, majors and their difficulty levels are subjective, and there is no need for a competition in which some people are put down for their choice of major(s) that they see fitting their aptitude and interests.

Leave these condescending comments to extended family members at Thanksgiving dinner. We are all students experiencing similar things, and we shouldn’t be competing with one another to make ourselves feel better. 

We are all at Augustana to gain the knowledge base necessary to enter our chosen workforce and effectively help people in a variety of settings. Let’s all commend one another for our hard work rather than reinforcing the generalized hierarchy and making people feel bad for their choices.