If you’ve been lumped into the STEM group, welcome to a college experience like no other. You’ve been marked for life--one filled with numbers, “hard sciences” and chemistry. The grouping is insistent, almost mandatory, but in actuality, knowing other people around you are in the same boat is reassuring. You can ride the bus of struggle with them, especially when your best friend, boyfriend, sorority sister or roommate isn’t of the same self-proclaimed group. Here are 5 ways that your college experience can differ from those around you…
1. Stressing incredible amounts over or staying up all night to finish lab reports.
You may see STEM majors sprinting to class protecting their thick packets of introductions, results, and conclusions, or fixating on a balanced equation in the corner of the library when it comes to lab reports. The time spent on lab reports — whether it be for chemistry, biology, physics, or any other subject — is held very near and dear to STEM majors’ hearts.
2. Pretending they don’t like other majors when they're actually jealous of their social lives and GPAs.
If you’ve had an unpleasant encounter with a STEM major, don’t take it personally, it is more than likely they just got their chem midterm back and envy the smile on your face. Not to say other majors are any less challenging, but taking a look at a STEM majors’ GPA can definitely be a confident boost.
3. The “M” in STEM does not stand for multiple choice.
The days of Advanced Placement multiple choice almost sound welcoming to the scientific essays and problems we aren’t expected to solve. Many other majors write essays, but those multiple choice, are definitely a thing of the past for STEM majors and many yearn for those A,B,C,D days.
4. Go 36 hours without seeing sunlight.
People usually respond to many STEM majors with “I’m sorry” when they found out what their major is. It’s not because it’s lame, but because the stereotype of them being locked in their room working on chemistry problem sets while the sun rises and sets is completely true. When it comes to exam time, there is no group study, it’s just grueling studying.
5. Spend time researching other non-STEM majors.
After that first exam comes back, or even after a couple semesters of chem lab, many STEM majors find themselves hitting the enter bar on a Google search about other majors. Maybe as backups, or maybe crucial information for a decision, at one point or another, it seems like being a STEM major maybe isn’t the best option.
