There will definitely come a time in your academic career when your friends will complain about their GPAs and you either whine with them or you shuffle your feet because your GPA is decent. Though I was the latter (not that I’m always the latter), I wasn’t prepared for my major to become the scapegoat.

I get a lot of “English is so easy” and “If I were an English major, I would have a higher GPA too.” And each time I get comments like that, it never fails to upset me and demean what I’m studying.

English and psychology are perceived to be two useless majors (or at least that’s what I’ve been told by family members). They’re not exactly fields that come to mind when one thinks about making tons of money in the future, and I suppose that’s partially to blame for the majors’ bad reputations. Perhaps, also, they seem so easy on the surface, such a cop-out compared to engineering, biology or business.

I can understand that engineering, biology or business are time-consuming majors and that they’re so stressful that you think nothing can compare. However, people who choose these majors didn’t choose them only because they’re respectful occupations or because that’s what their parents would like them to do (I hope), but because they actually enjoy what they’re learning.

Likewise, I didn’t choose my majors because they are a cinch. I chose these majors because they mean something to me. I chose psychology because I’m genuinely fascinated with neuroscience and developmental psychology. Compared to the other sciences, psychology may sound like a joke, but it’s relatively new in comparison to chemistry, biology and physics; hence, it needs time to prove itself.

Admittedly psychology can be subjective at times, but the field is still pivotal in understanding humans. Additionally, most psychology majors actually take more science and math classes to enhance their science background, so it isn’t as if we’re too lazy to take chemistry or calculus.

As for English, I must say that I am in love with words. There’s something miraculous about them — how one word may seem insignificant but when interlinked together with another, they have the ability to express to another human being what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling.

English may not be difficult in the sense of calculations or memorization, but writing papers and stories isn’t effortless, either. Reading and trying to comprehend texts like Shakespearean plays isn’t a piece of cake. It does take time and resolve to take apart sentences to understand the whole. Even now, with all my endeavors, certain texts still puzzle me.

My majors aren’t the only targets; there are other majors that are sneered at too, but why should they be? It isn’t fair to relate someone’s grade in one subject to another simply based on a letter grade. There are different difficulty levels, depending on the teacher and the course.

The reason for choosing a major is based on different motives as well. If people love their “easy” major and chose it simply because they love it, then they’re better off than those who choose majors simply because of the money.