Everyone has their passions, something that they enjoy doing and that they are good at. For the lucky ones this passion can be a specific field of study, allowing them to take courses to learn more and then eventually find a career that suits their passions. But what about the individuals whose passions are not solely academic, like the rigorous studies of an engineering major or a nursing-intent student?
For me, it has always been art. I can not remember a time that I was not carrying around a sketchbook and colored pencils. Granted my early works were no van Gogh or Picasso (though they did closely resemble his works in some instances), but those early works helped me to embark on my artistic journey of today.
I am an art major. To be more specific, I am actually an Interdisciplinary Arts for Children Major with a specialty in visual arts and an Art Major with a specialty in painting. I chose SUNY Brockport explicitly for their Arts for Children major because I wanted to be an art therapist. On my resume I describe my major as "Advanced pedagogical coursework in Arts-Integrated Curriculum and Instruction, Multiple Intelligences Theory, Teaching Art at the Elementary Level, Children’s Dance, Music and the Child, and Creative Drama". Simply put, I do a lot of art classes that are designed to help me work with children in the future.
Once people find out that I am an Art major, my high GPA suddenly seems to decrease in value and I get that look, a mixture of pity and awe. In response I get an "Oh..." and a "What exactly does that mean?" or my all time favorite "But what will you do?". I will be doing what I love, because life is about happiness and not about the monetary value of my job.
And then they ask “What’s your GPA?” And then once I tell them and add the fact that I made the Dean’s List, they quickly compare my “easy” classes to other student’s classes who happen to have a different major. Yes, my GPA is high, but it’s not just because of my art courses and personally, I do not see why being an art major would affect the weight of my GPA.
I work hard for my grades. While I may not need to sit down and study some flashcards, I spend 6+ hours in class per studio class. Those 6 hours are simply the beginning though, because I am expected to spend double that time working on the assignments outside of classtime. And this isn’t just an expectation, but a requirement to get that good grade so that I can earn my degree and succeed in the future. But in addition to my studio courses, I do have “real” classes where I attend lecture and scramble to take decent notes like the rest of my peers.
So please, do not knock my major. I know what I want to do in life in order to be happy and be successful in the way that I define my success. So what if I am not going to be some uptight CEO of some fancy schmancy corporation? I am going to be helping kids in their time of need and I think that is a much more fulfilling job than sitting at a desk all day.
