Comm Major Haters

By Kaitlyn Hotchkin

I don’t know when choosing to major in Communications became synonymous with choosing the easy way out, but I’ll tell you what: if you’re salty about how hard your major is, that really isn’t our problem.

As a senior Comm major, I have taken practically every Communications course offered here at Albion, and, I’ll admit, some were pretty damn easy. Maybe it was only easy because Comm majors are good at what they do, while what is required in these courses might be hard for others. Maybe it’s just easy. The world may never know.

What I do know, however, is that every other major hates us. Hate is a strong word, but I have heard some strong words thrown my way simply for the major I have chosen. This hostility is especially present when I visit the library for final exam season. I asked a friend of mine who is majoring in something fancy and science-y about why people like her get so irritated.

“Near the beginning of the year, science majors find tables and quiet spots in the library and the science center to study in. Near the end of the semester, these Comm majors, who are used to writing papers throughout the semester, find themselves needing to study for exams that science majors have been dealing with all semester. Just because it took the Comm majors all semester to learn to study outside of their rooms doesn’t mean we should lose the rooms we have been nesting in for the entire semester.”

Sounds pretty aggressive to me. When I called her a Comm Major Hater she defended her statement with: “It’s not that science majors hate Communications majors, it’s that we dislike losing the territory that we have frequented during the weeks that we truly need to study.”

Oh, I’m sorry, last time I checked the library was for everyone. Maybe that has changed, but what would I know — I’m only a Comm major.

Even my own boyfriend (a kinesiology major) refuses to acknowledge that being a Communications major is at all challenging. Due to a tweet he found, he frequently compares the difficulty of going into the field of communications with… the same as lazing around in an actual field.

Even when I tell him about an upcoming exam or paper, he simply responds with, “Oh, is the field a little challenging today?”

Just because all of the Communications courses I have taken consisted of writing papers or presenting instead of taking exams and watching movies rather than sitting in lab for hours on end doesn’t mean that what we do isn’t challenging.

I bet you would freak out a little if I told you instead of studying for an exam you get to prepare a 30-minute presentation. That’s right, public speaking. The number one fear in America is what we Comm majors excel at.

I bet you would panic if I told you instead of working in a lab where there are step-by-step ways of doing things already written out for you, you have to come up with ideas to convey theories in an essay from only a scene in a movie and actually utilize the left side of your brain for once.

I bet you would gain a little respect for Comm majors if you took a second to really find out what we do.

A Communications major combines the writing skills of an English major, the critical thinking skills of a science major, and the people skills of sociology majors. We are three majors in one. So chill out. We work hard, we’re smart, and we can read you like a book.

Featured image by Kaitlyn Hotchkin