Kenna Hall is Just as Important as SCDI

Majors do not determine students’ intelligence or success

You heard it here first: art majors are just as smart as business students.

There is an unspoken belief system pervading college campuses that many students buy into — a hierarchy of greatness within majors. Some students think that STEM and business students are more practical and are destined for success because their science, technology, engineering and math focuses will “give them more opportunities” upon graduation.

This idea is sustained as an acceptable belief, but is all relative when taken in the grand scheme of academia.

Given the shift to a more technological society, it is a fair assumption that a major in the STEM field is desirable. However, it shouldn’t devalue the education and the applicability of a humanities major. So, for every business internship that you hear students bragging about in Silicon Valley, it is very possible that a humanities major hired them. As a result, students at Santa Clara should not be inclined to relegate themselves to intellectual hierarchies by major because they dissolve after graduation.

Just over a quarter of college graduates actually work in a field that is related to their major. The notion that humanities students have their heads in the clouds and will struggle post-graduation is not true.

Students should focus on the intrinsic value of their education, rather than believing that a major is a mechanism to limit their career goals.

The hierarchical belief system of some majors being more important than others did not manifest out of thin air. Rather, it is an effect of the ridiculously expensive price tag that comes with college education.

Students are conditioned to believe that their exceedingly expensive education warrants a correlative salary; however, this is not what the workforce has to offer today, as entry-level jobs are not equivalent to Santa Clara tuition. This damaging mindset of connecting a major to success and intelligence is not uncalled for, but remains inaccurate.

I promise you that the liberal arts students at Santa Clara are not just twiddling their thumbs in Kenna Hall while the STEM students do important things with big machines in SCDI or a business student walks into Lucas in a suit.

To disparage someone’s choice of study due to perceived lack of opportunities post-grad is narrow-minded. A major is not the sole indicator of success in one’s career. Why not pursue something you are passionate about instead of focusing on an expedient, career-climbing (perhaps even soul-sucking) ladder?

Yes, college is about preparing you for the future, but your major isn’t the only thing that will determine it. It may be more valuable to reflect on your college education and see that you have made progress in a field that you are passionate about, as that passion will truly impact the rest of your life.

In addition, students should not be reluctant to pursue a major based on the stigma associated with it. For example, the idea that a communication major is an easy way out of a difficult academic experience in college is misguided. Who's to say that a career in this field is not what students are passionate about? Just because a certain college class doesn't include a lab or three midterms doesn’t mean it is a class that isn’t as valuable for a student’s future career choice.

Academic stress and responsibilities in college do not guarantee a student future career success. Instead, students should find the intersection of their passions and successes when choosing a major.