Edit desk: We are not “arts and crafts” majors

I was on lap four of my run around the track when a man purposefully stepped in front of me and stopped me dead in my tracks. It was annoying to say the least, but the conversation that followed was far more infuriating than this man stopping me from completing a mile.

The middle aged man pointed to my shirt and asked me if I attended Lehigh University. I said that I was a sophomore at Lehigh and that I loved my school.

He replied with the stereotypical response of “Oh, so you’re an engineer.” I’m used to the statement, but it still irks me nonetheless.

I kept my temper in check and kindly told him that I was double majoring in global studies and journalism. His response to that answer floored me. This man who knew absolutely nothing about me asked me why I was going to college if I was going to study something so meaningless.

Again, I became angry. And again I kept my cool and began to explain to him why I loved my majors and how much of an influence they have on the world. I naively thought that I could make him realize how narrow-minded his statement was.

He could not have cared less and told me that I should choose to study something of greater value.

I was furious. There were a lot of words running through my head but I chose to thank him for his time and said I was going to continue my run.

I never saw him again. Looking back, there are so many things that I wish I could have told him.

I wish I had stood up to him and told him that his narrow-minded views are one of the many things wrong with this world. I wish I would have told him that his harsh opinions are probably crushing the dreams of the students that he talks to. I wish I would have told him that it is not OK to tell someone that their passions do not matter or are meaningless.

Unfortunately, I will never have the opportunity to share my thoughts with him but I can share them with all of the Lehigh students who refer to the College of Arts and Sciences as “arts and crafts.”

Because the words “arts and crafts” bother me just as much as the phrase “Oh, so you’re an engineer.”

Because Lehigh cannot and should not be fostering an environment that is creating narrow-minded students and alumni.

This school is made up of more than just engineers. We are doctors, accountants, philosophers and so much more. These majors are often overlooked but they are just as important as an engineering degree.

Every single student at Lehigh spends hours studying to pursue their dreams and it is unfair that these people are looked down upon because they do not have a certain degree.

It is the humanities students that get made fun of the most. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone tell a humanities student that their major is not “real.” Or how many times I have heard someone say a humanities student has a high GPA because they do not take difficult classes.

These majors are real and they are difficult. Please do not tell people that they are not.

I promise you that we “arts and crafts” students do not sit in class putting macaroni onto a string or braiding dandelions. We read hundreds of pages in textbooks every week and then we go to class to discuss theories and processes that are greatly impacting the world that we live in.

Our majors matter just as much as every other major at Lehigh. We are just as important as every other student here.

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Katie Morris, ’18, is an assistant news editor for The Brown and White. She can be reached at [email protected].