Dear Wells Fargo,

I've been banking with you since I was a baby. My parents have set up accounts for me, have put money into savings, and last fall I opened a "teen" account with you. I've never had problems until now, and I'm ashamed of your recent campaign and the fact that you think it was acceptable to begin with.

You know the campaign I'm talking about. I'm talking about the one that told millions of teenagers like me that pursuing a career in the arts isn't worthwhile. The one that enforces the idea that the already underfunded arts aren't going to earn you any money in the future. You told millions of aspiring artists that to be successful, they had to pursue STEM, legal, or medical careers. This is wrong on so many levels.

Next year, I will be attending college and pursuing a creative writing or journalism major. I could listen to your campaign, and abandon that plan. I could become the next veterinarian, as your letter told me today, and not be a writer, which I've wanted to be since I was five. I'm receiving scholarships, publishing my writing, and getting noticed, and I haven't turned 18 yet. But tomorrow I'll be the next doctor, so that doesn't matter, right? By attempting to suggest that artists will abandon their hopes, you're supporting those who have told me "writing won't earn you money," "you'll never succeed," or "find a REAL major." I am also in robotics at my school, and I understand the importance of STEM education, but I find it appalling that you thought this campaign would be both beneficial and supportive of your young banking customers.

While your campaign might have been implemented with good intentions, it is shameful and wrong. We need light in this all-too-dark world, and creative minds allow us to expand our views, listen to each other, and let the sunshine in. So with this, I implore you to expand your view points and to put yourselves into the positions of your teenage customers. Imagine a world of endless opportunity, and being told that your options are now limited. Doesn't feel great, huh? You should be ashamed of yourselves and the ideas that you promoted, intentional or not. This campaign doesn't make me, a teenager, want to bank with you. It makes me want to visit an alternate financial institution, one where I feel supported and welcomed. Even though you have now retracted your campaign and attempted to smooth things over, that's not how it works. Your campaign was ruinous and amateur, and I hope this mistake gives you room to think about the ways in which the arts are viewed and how you contribute to negative stereotypes.

Shame on you.

Sincerely,

Jordan