STEM majors are crucial to our world, especially in today's modern society characterized by the rapid growth of technological advancement. We need STEM majors. Robin Williams even said it himself in the film "Dead Poets Society":
"Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life... But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."
Not everyone is fit to be a STEM major.
Some people just don't have a natural proclivity for a STEM subject. They aren't capable of the fast pace or workload it entails. And that is OK. Nothing is wrong with that. Others, however, are capable but choose to go into a field that is not STEM because they want to study something they are passionate about. I feel as though whatever an individual's reason for not going into a field that isn't STEM may be, that individual is often shunned by so many people for dreaming "unrealistically." They are told they won't make money. They are told their ambitions are too far-fetched. They are invalidated and laughed at.
That being said, stop denigrating people who choose to major in something or enter a field they are passionate about.
I am a HUGE proponent for doing something that you actually enjoy doing. I do NOT believe you should ever enter a profession simply for the money. I would rather be making enough money that stabilizes my life and love what I do than make six figures but dread going to work every single day. I don't believe you should live life to make money.
Live life to live.
It is way too common and normalized for STEM people to frown upon those that aren't STEM. For the majority of high school, I planned on being a STEM major as well. I thought math and science were the subjects I wanted to be engaging in for the rest of my life. However, around my junior year, I realized I wasn't fervent about it at all. I found my passion for the arts. For performing, for writing, for creative work. And I realized I wanted to make a career out of what I am truly passionate about. That's what I want to be doing with my life.
I don't care about money. I want to be happy and proud of doing what I love.
Lady Gaga won her first Oscar. Lady Gaga. A woman that performs and entertains for a living (probably the farthest you can get from a STEM occupation). At the Oscar awards, she had some words to say about passion:
"If you are at home and sitting on your couch watching this right now, all I have to say is this is hard work. I have worked hard for a long time, and it is not about winning, but it's not about giving up. If you have a dream, fight for it. There's a discipline for passion, and it's not about how many times you get rejected or you fall down or beaten up, it's about how many times you stand up and are brave.
People need to understand there is hard work in practically ANY type of profession.
There are difficulties and stress that coincide with all types of work. They are just difficult in different ways. A chemist and an actor both study completely different things and undergo different types of strenuous experiences. A chemist, for instance, must intellectually and logically work through arduous research and experiments, whereas an actor must face the stress of finding and completing auditions and the constant rejection that perpetuates throughout the business.
Both lives are FILLED with tension, just in different ways.
If you have taken away nothing from this article so far, at least take something from this: if you have a dream you want to be fulfilled, then fulfill that dream. Stop letting invalidation get to your head. Whatever you decide to do with your life, do it with passion. If you want to be a doctor, make sure it's because there's passion behind it. If you want to go into the entertainment industry, be ready for the obstacles and let-downs. But also be sure your inculcated passion will pick you back up.
Passion will bring you far. Without it, we are nothing. We are boring.
