Defending My Major

I'm going to let you in on a conversation I was involved in earlier this week (bear with me. There is a point.)

Guy: :moanmoan: I only got two hours of sleep last night.
Me: Ah! You need to get at least eight hours! It's important.
Guy: That's not realistic.
Me: I usually get eight hours.
Guy: What's your major again?
Me: PR.
Guy: That's why then.

Naturally my red-headed temper surfaced, and I jumped to my defense. I don't allow anyone to tell me MY major is "easy". Maybe us PR majors aren't solving ridiculous equations (why would anyone want to do that anyway? It's why I chose NOT to do it) or staring at things under a microscope, but our field is a work of art in itself. Students in other colleges at BU have somehow come to the conclusion that Communication students do no homework. I'd like to meet these "students" because I have homework everyday. I'm sure there are plenty of PR majors out there who skip readings and write sub-par papers just to pass class. For those people, it might very well be easy. But for those of us who are truly dedicated to what we do and what we want to do in the future, it's no simple task. We do all the readings and dig deeper to understand them. We perfect the pieces we write. We meet with professors. We are involved with extracurriculars. We jump on internship opportunities.

And many of us take our education beyond the classroom. For me, that means dedicating 2+ hours of my day to the news and PR blogs. It means networking and engaging through outlets like Twitter and LinkedIn. I know there are plenty of my peers out there who do the same. It's not EASY. We have to stay on top of everything going on in the world in order to see how it connects to what we're learning -- and in the future, how it connects to clients. You have to have a true understanding of people -- how to connect with them and how to influence them. You couldn't pay me a million dollars to believe that just ANYONE can do that. It's a skill.

Another part of that conversation went like this:
Me: Math and science majors couldn't go into COM (School of Communication) and do well just like I couldn't go into a math or science major and do well.
Guy: Sure they could. If you're good at memorizing, you can be good in COM.
Me: What? That makes no sense. There's no memorizing in COM. It's all about writing and speaking and connecting with people.
Guy: You just have to memorize the words you say.
Me: You have to COME up with the words to say in the first place.
Guy: I guess ...

Misunderstood my friends. Misunderstood.