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Column: Shedding some light on the easy major myth

October 25, 2016

I work hard for the grades I receive, so it bothers me when people think I have an easy major because I’m in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

It’s frustrating to see people roll their eyes over the course load they think my classmates and I have, saying they have it harder because they’re in this or that major. They’re in business, they’re going to get a real job. They’re in engineering and have days of lab work.

The way classes are graded for a major is not indicative of the rigor. While some focus on exams, others are different. It wouldn’t make any sense for me as a journalism major to have an exam. Everything I learn is supposed to be applied, so my classes are project-based.

People don’t think James Madison College is easy, and they’re graded on numerous papers. What’s the difference between that and supposedly “easy” majors?

I truly respect the science majors out there, studying for their three exams on a single day. But that’s the point: different majors are meant for different people.

Communication Arts and Sciences is made up of 7.4 percent of full-time students this fall. The largest college is the Eli Broad College of  Business at 15.5 percent and the smallest is the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at 0.6 percent. That means there are tons of other colleges at MSU, with people scattered in all different course types and major programs. Every college is different, with different teaching philosophies and future career prospects.

The point of going to college is to learn about something we are actually interested in and good at. It doesn't make sense for a person who loves reading and writing and has no interest in experiments to study biology.

We should all take a page from someone in my creative processes class last year. As a chemistry senior, he seemed a little out of place in this random, two credit Monday evening class. He told our group, smiling, that he was used to science classes. Thinking creatively was not his forte, and he wanted an elective that would challenge him.

“I could never do what you guys do,” he said.

There’s a purpose behind the way our classes are structured. There’s no need to look down on someone for shooting a video instead of studying for a test. After all, there isn't a score to compare because we’re not even playing the same game.

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