Trust me when I say this: I have heard it all. People tell me my major is a joke. People tell me I am taking the easy way out. People have made me question if I should really be studying business.

I used to be angered by the questions and the pestering. What gave people the right to question my decisions? What gave people the right to think that I was taking the easy road? Then I began to think. What gave people the right to make me so angered?

When people say business is an easy major, they may be partially right in the fact that we don’t have to memorize formulas. We don’t have to memorize body parts and the functions of a cell’s parts. So if you want to compare difficulty in that sense, yes business is easy. What these same people fail to understand is that there is no handbook, rules, or correct answers. It is all concepts. It is applying the right concept to the right situation at the right time. You won’t ever know if any of it was right until after the fact; “hindsight is 20/20.”

The last time I checked, business ran this world. Business is involved in any major you want to pick no matter what. The country club you belong to or work at is a business. The township you live in is a business. The non-profit you volunteer for is a business. Business is not about making money; it is about managing the people, accomplishing goals, and remaining ethical.

The vet office you work for is a business someone is making business decisions everyday. The barn that you work at is a business. Someone is managing all the personnel. Someone is making decisions of how to allocate funds to be able to avoid losing money. Business is in every major!

Don’t forget! Being a business major, my career options are endless. If I want to work in corporate, I can. If I want to work I want to work for myself, I can. If I want to work for a township, I can. Business will open a number of doors for me. There is a reason my professor told all the non-business majors to think about an MBA. The reason is that business degrees are valuable, they provide more opportunities, and they provide the opportunity to advance your career because business is everywhere.

Next time you think about telling me that I took the easy way out, the next time you think my major is a joke, I won’t be angered. But I think you should think twice about what you are saying to me. I am getting an education to, one day, run the business that you work for, even if you don’t think you work for a business. Just remember, because our majors aren’t the same doesn’t mean mine is easier. Different things are asked of us. Different things are required of us. But in the end, your major is no better than mine and it for sure is no harder than mine.

I am a business major and I am proud.