Why it stinks to be a journalism major

I know I didn’t choose an average college major.

When you come to college there are two things people love to ask you: “How are you liking your classes?” and “What is your major?” One of those is easy to answer. You can lie and say everything is great even if it is not and you can find some way to make polite conversation. The other is a little more complicated and, more often than not, it feels like some sort of personal attack.

When I tell people I am a journalism major they usually say, “Oh, that’s great!” But their eyes give it away. They are slightly horrified, mostly confused, and definitely not supportive. It makes me wish I could say I was studying to become a teacher or a doctor or a lawyer so people could actually understand and respect what I’m doing.

Let me know when your college major lets you feel this professional

It’s not just the adults at family functions that have something to say, it’s also our peers. They turn up their noses at those of us who don’t have to take the hardest math classes or suffer through Accounting 200. Even though they say that we’re “so lucky,” it always comes with a side of judgment that clearly represents their true feelings. They don’t have to say anything at all to tell us that they don’t think journalism is a real major.

You may have passed by the College of Communication and Information while you went tailgating

My first thought is always people equate math and science talents with intelligence. Journalism majors are all trained to understand the importance of writing and reading, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t smart in other areas. There are plenty of people who shudder at the thought of writing an essay, but a journalism major can take that and run with it. We’re actually the people you desperately ask to edit your essays, and we probably reluctantly agree. Some people get anxious thinking about studying formulas for physics. It’s all the same. We all have our different strengths and weaknesses and it’s ridiculous to try to judge people for that kind of stuff in this day and age.

Journalism majors still know how to have fun

People tend to question the worth of a degree in journalism. Do you read the news? Do you watch the news? Do you have a general concept of what’s going on in the world? That’s all thanks to journalism. Journalism majors are the people who go through the news and figure out what is important and sift through all the stuff that isn’t. It is not always glamorous and it is rarely easy, but that’s why it’s a job.

Someone will always ask what a journalism major expects to do after graduation and, admittedly, the answers always do sound kind of farfetched, but it’s not a typical 9 to 5 kind of job and it usually doesn’t involve sitting a cubicle all day. It’s a fast paced world and that’s something we’re all learning in even the most basic of classes.

The next time you meet a journalism major, try to understand the importance. It may not be rocket science, but it’s definitely not nothing.