Whether you’re a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior, you’ve declared a major. The major you have chosen may change a few times, if it hasn’t already. Perhaps you’ve found that economics isn’t inspiring enough, so you made the switch to art. Maybe you’ve found the hidden wonder and art within physics, engineering or even pre-med, and decided to keep with it.
Or maybe you’re sticking with the sciences simply for job security.
Recently, the “College Majors Handbook with Real Career Paths and Payoffs” published a list of the fifteen top-earning majors. Sixty percent of those majors were engineering-related, while pre-med took the number one spot, earning $100,000 a year. Absent from the list, however, were art-related majors, as well as journalism, English and political science majors.
With rising student loan debt, it’s no wonder that students pick majors based off earnings. But what if society gave the arts a bit more love and attention? They contribute just as much to society as a physicist or doctor does.
Imagine a world without art. Picture the artless walls in your home, classroom or restaurant. Say goodbye to most museums. Imagine a world in which there are no journalists to bring you the news. What would it feel like to have no idea what’s going on across the country? Or, what about a world without writers, a world without your favorite books?
The same day the above findings were published, “The New York Times” blogger Pauline W. Chen, M.D. wrote about the widespread doctor burnout problem in the U.S. Around 50 percent of the doctors questioned feel “emotionally exhausted, feeling detached from their patients and work or suffering from a low sense of accomplishment.” Unfortunately for the patient, uninspired doctors have a higher chance of misdiagnosing a disease than doctors enthused by their degrees.
What does this say about the majors we chose, and the careers we choose? It may be the case that students are not choosing their majors based off genuine interest, but rather off which job will provide the best financial standing. After all, should you burnout from a career you spent years of hard work and dedication to earn?
As a pre-med major, I hear complaints from students daily about how boring and long classes are, and how often they dread coming to class and lab. Obviously, no student is going to be exited about organic chemistry at 7:30 a.m., but to actually dread class? That may be a warning sign.
Sure, doctors make us feel better, and engineers build our cars and bridges, but artists give us the creativity we need to get through the day. They fill the empty walls of our houses, and let our minds escape into a great book at the end of the day. They deserve more than what we give them.
Contact the columnist at OBrunaci@asu.edu. Follow the columnist @obrunacini.
