To the people who think that being a Communication major is just talking,

You know who you are. You’re the people who will hear that someone is majoring in Communication and immediately think, “what are you going to do with that?” You may think that it’s a worthless major; everyone knows how to talk and communicate so how hard could your classes be?

To be honest, I can see where you’re coming from. Yes, “communications” is a general title. Yes, it is a broad major and topic. And yes, I know it doesn’t sound as prestigious as being a law student or a medical student. But hearing that I am a Communication major doesn’t give you the right to think negatively about my future.

Part of the appeal of being a Communication major is that it really is such a broad area of study. It’s versatile, and you have the ability to pair it with several of your other interests, such as marketing, or business, or education and social work. Once you have declared your major, you have to option to choose whether you want your degree to be Communications and Media or Interpersonal Communications. You can choose to work towards being the next editor-in-chief at a publishing firm or work towards being a speech therapist researching the effect of technology on younger kids abilities to communicate with each other.

I can hear it now; you’re probably wanting to argue back by saying that these are just hypothetical situations, only hypothetical job offers and positions. And you’re right, these are only a few examples of what one can do with a Communications major. But to be honest, at this point in time, no one can really be 100% sure of what their job is going to be after college. We don’t need you to tell us “good luck with finding a job” or “have fun being poor.”

Perhaps the biggest, and most aggravating misconception of Communication majors is that is it easy. It is easy, mindless work that revolves around talking to one another and giving speeches in class. It’s assumptions like these that play into the difficult role of choosing your major in college. Students are so pressured nowadays to go into a major that will automatically earn you a job and high salary, that they overlook doing things that will genuinely make them fulfilled in the future.

Just because I am a Communication major does not mean I have it easy.

I still go to class every day, just like you. I still get homework, and projects, and give presentations just as you would in any other class. You don’t just get an A if you are a good public speaker. Like any other college major, it is skills based. We don’t just get a degree and then go speak or write for the rest of our lives. We build up the skills needed to succeed in such a field that will not only prepare us for future careers but also further the development of them.

I’m happy and proud that I am a Communication major. I’m lucky enough to have a major that combines all of my interests. And most importantly, I can see myself working within this field in the future.

If you don’t like Communication, that’s okay. If you don’t think being a Communication is worth it, that’s okay. That’s probably why you didn’t choose it as your major. But there’s some people who do like it and who are working towards a degree in it. They’re proud to be of that area of study and they’re working just as hard as any other student.

So please don’t knock down our majors, because we don’t knock down yours.

Sincerely,