Major Dilemma

Here's an awkward situation. You're hanging out, meeting new people, maybe talking to your friends' friends, and the inevitable question pops up.

"So... what's your major?"

Now, at this point, you either choke or brag. If you're in the College of Letters and Sciences, you're likely to develop an inferiority complex right about now. But if you're an engineer, chemist or another user of the left hemisphere of your brain, you'll likely be bursting at the seams to announce your specialty.

It has perplexed me from day one why there has to be a hierarchy of majors existing in an institution that is supposed to promote communal learning and diversity. But for whatever reason, some majors are more conducive to the "I'm kind of a big deal" mentality, while others shy away from the question and suddenly remember that they left the oven on and have to jet.

I've only been here a year, but I've already heard the big kids reveal which majors you should be proud to declare, and which ones you should keep on the downlow. A few things I have picked up:

When to Brag:

Engineering: They take multi-variable calculus and build contraptions that launch inanimate objects. Therefore they are superior to all others. Not.

Computer Science: They may not be able to kick your ass physically, but they'll school you in such practical everyday matters as C++ and HTML. Watch out.

Business: Rumored to be pretty useless as an undergrad major, yet hundreds enter college each year determined to graduate with this degree and then get rich or die trying anyway. It's okay though, you'll always have exciting economics as a backup.

When to Blush:

Mass Communications: "The preferred major of sorority girls, frat boys and athletes." Or so the stereotype goes. Because studying how we interact as humans on the most fundamental level is so painfully obvious, right? Guess again.

English: "They're just uptight grammar fanatics pursuing something totally impractical in life, right?" Keep that in mind the next time you want someone to copy edit the paper you need to pass that breadth requirement class.

Political Science: "It's trendy, but what kind of job does it really guarantee?" You've got to hand it to these people, though. They're more in touch with what's going in the world than any of the rest of us will ever be. So show some respect.

Now before you get all huffed up, realize that I am just delineating the most common stereotypes here. I don't personally believe that all Haas-ites are part of the get-rich-quick bandwagon, or that a degree in English is useless. But stereotypes do affect how we interact in this strange social hierarchy.

My friend Jimmy, a humble civil engineer, told me that a professor of his likened this pecking order of majors to their location with respect to Berkeley's sloping campus. The high point of the hill is the UC Berkeley science laboratories. Going down a bit further, you have Evans, LeConte and Campbell halls, the sanctuary of engineers and math majors. And at the bottom lie Dwinelle Hall and Wheeler Auditorium, where humanities majors congregate. But a hike up the hill shouldn't necessarily translate into a spot on a pedestal.

If we can't embrace the diversity that we have been graced with by each other's open minds here in college, then we will never be able to truly accept the value of others in the real world. Because, in case you haven't noticed, this is not the real world.

A friend of mine once told me that the minute you graduate from college, the average IQ level of the people around you drops considerably. So, take advantage of the environment you're in right now. Talk to someone you don't know, look that person straight in the eye, and honestly say you're majoring in English and you don't know what you're going to do with it. Then ask what he's majoring in, and find common ground.

So don't hide your sociology reader inside that physics book. Be proud of whatever you're majoring in, and don't laugh at what other people choose to study.

Because you never know when you might switch from pre-med to art history.

Tags: