When I first arrived at Northwestern as a freshman, the defining Wildcat Welcome question was, “What’s your major?” It seemed weird that everyone created identities for other students solely based on their majors, but I didn’t think too much of it while immersed in orientation stress.
However, the beginning of freshman year still felt like a time when my peers were engaged, excited to be in college classes for the first time and not constantly judging anyone else’s major. Many people (myself included) felt constant pressure to succeed and "be the best," although I still felt proud to be a double major in psychology and French – but not for long.
As freshman year turned to sophomore year, I began to feel a little less proud and instead felt embarrassed. I often believed I was in an environment that shamed liberal arts majors and portrayed liberal arts classes as an easy way out, an easy way to get a GPA boost. I would find my friends in supposedly "harder" majors tossing around phrases like "I'm jealous you're in such easy classes" and "We can't all get easy A’s." I was ashamed not to be pre-med. I was ashamed not listing off minors in econ, IMC and bio. I was ashamed that I wasn't staying up until 4 a.m. working on problem sets.
As sophomore year turned into junior year, I felt the shame turn into full-blown self-deprecation. Why were my peers so much smarter/hardworking/talented than I was? Why were they all studying for the MCAT/LSAT, or prepping for consulting interviews, when I wasn't?
But then something changed. I realized that the predominant Northwestern way of thought created an arbitrary hierarchy of majors based on their supposed difficulty level – a hierarchy that diminished my self-esteem. Usually, SESP and many majors in WCAS tend to fall at the bottom of this hierarchy, with McCormick and pre-med majors rising to the top. But a socially-constructed hierarchy should not dictate my happiness or my self-confidence. Every major, no matter how our student body perceives it, is equally rigorous and important in its own way.
I have the utmost respect for my friends in McCormick, for my pre-med friends, for my friends getting selected for interviews with prestigious consulting firms. But I have that same respect for my friends majoring in English, communication studies and political science as well as for my fellow psychology majors.
I admire my undervalued friends in SESP, who often deal with belittling and condescending comments. If we were all required to take at least one SESP class during our time at Northwestern, perhaps we would take the time to think before we speak and give SESP students the respect they deserve. This holds true for all liberal arts classes as well. They may involve different skill sets than McCormick classes, but they are equally valuable in a completely different way.
I don’t believe that any student has the right to claim that working on physics problem set is more rigorous than writing a ten-page analytical essay comparing "The Catcher in the Rye" with "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." A pre-med student might one day treat and provide necessary care to sick people, but an English major might also go on to write books that will inspire social justice movements.
I know this isn’t the first time this topic has been addressed, but it is an unresolved issue that continues to create a campus atmosphere that often seems to disregard the value of certain majors. I want to say to any student who may share the embarrassment, shame and self-criticism that I felt: The liberal arts are beautiful, important and will provide you with the outlets to make the world a better place.
Majors and schools aside, we are all students at a top-tier university. We are all learning how to be engaged, productive and thoughtful individuals. The next time you find yourself making a SESP joke, think again. The stigma associated with “softer” majors is a problem that must be resolved. We need to break down the Northwestern hierarchy of majors so that we can build an accepting community in which no student feels ashamed.