“Do you want fries with that?”

“Are you really wasting your parents’ money on that?”

“You don’t really need to study do you?”

“You wouldn’t understand. You’ve never taken hard classes before.”

I have heard every single one of these statements and more during my college career, and frankly, I am sick of it.

I am a communications major. I pay tuition. I go to class. I take tests I actually do study for, and I spend hours at a computer screen writing papers just like a pre-med or law major.

I put in the time and effort, and all I see in return are snarky comments that leave me feeling almost ashamed to be going into my field of study.

I don’t understand why “major shaming” is a thing.

I understand that I am never going to be a doctor or a lawyer, and I am okay with that. I can’t handle the sight of blood. If you asked me to prove someone innocent that is guilty of murder, I would probably cry. Neither of those careers are for me, and they aren’t the only majors that find success in life.

We all have a talent we were gifted with to change the world. Some people are gifted in the medical field; others are gifted in working in electricity, construction, communication or leadership.

The world needs all of these different people to function.

If every single college student went to school for medicine, then we would have no use for the field at all, because everybody would be able to heal and help themselves. However, we wouldn’t have clean water, mechanics or cooks.

As Miranda Lambert would say, “‘Cause ever since the beginning, to keep the world spinning, It takes all kinds of kinds.”

I am not at all saying that the medical field isn’t important or that it is an easy career path to pursue. I am saying shaming a major is completely unnecessary and needs to stop.

In kindergarten, we learned the Golden Rule.

Dr. Seuss said, “Be who you are, and say what you feel. Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.”

Let’s go back to kindergarten, and allow people to celebrate being original and genuine.