What are they saying to you? That you won’t get a job studying a dead language? That Latin majors are stuck-up? That majoring in Latin is easy?
To the first point, you could be all high-and-mighty and say college isn’t a vocational school and that if getting a job is all they care about, well, how sad for them. To the second, you could agree with them and say that Latin majors are better people (with a dramatic sigh), and the sooner they learn to deal with this reality, the better. To the third, you could just speak a little of it and ask them to translate, if it’s so easy.
But those are all stupid suggestions.
The best suggestion is just to learn not care about what people say about your life choices. You chose to go an unconventional route, and whenever you do this, people will give you crap about it. It doesn’t stop in college.
You know what would get under some people skin’s? Saying, “I’m studying what I like instead of following the herd. When the herd goes off the cliff, I’ll be sitting under a tree with my books, watching and laughing. Where will you be?”
You’ll be real popular then, but at least that one particular person will shut the fuck up.
I don’t think anyone is mad at the OP for studying on an offbeat path. I think we’re all think wtf is he going to do with this degree? (Which I did until someone broke it down for me.) We’re worried he won’t be as financial stable as his peers. I think this thread is showing more concern than being annoyed he choose something so esoteric to major in.
You can ahead of the heard, but can also be behind it. It goes both ways…
FWIW, I have many friends who majored in what they wanted and the job market wasn’t friendly to them and they regreted it. I’m not saying anyone who majors in a unique field will feel the same, but it’s a good thing to think about.
Yeah I’m not expecting to get rich off of it. I guess everyone now only cares about money and not learning. Or maybe they think I don’t actually enjoy it but am just purposely wasting money on a useless degree. But how do you respond to something like “Latin is useless because dead languages and ancient literature (or the humanities in general) don’t help society. Science and medicine and whatnot are improving technology and saving lives”. Or that “you can learn Latin at home in your free time while learning a useful skill at college”?
Not everyone needs to change the world. A lot of people simply want to get through life in an enjoyable fashion. And if you are lucky enough to be able to spend on a college degree without worrying about its ROI, that’s really great - but you are fortunate in this day and age of very high college costs and high unemployment to be able to afford to simply be able to go to college to learn and not because you need to care about money. I’m saving like a madwoman for two kids because I want them to have the luxury of not having student loans and degrees in English Lit if such is their passion. Because, for me, I think its not bad to have one or the other (a liberal arts degree OR loans), wise to have neither (graduate with a ‘practical’ degree and no debt), and unwise to have both (loans and a degree in Art History).
I doubt anyone thinks you don’t enjoy it. It’s more that for some people enjoying yourself is not the top priority of college. Some people think college should be a mix of education and career development, so you’re prepared to get an interesting, challenging career afterward.
Not me, though. I majored in Latin. But some people.
My only concern (and I voiced this in another thread that I made) is are you pursuing a degree in this going to make you worse off than when you started. I.e. are you going to 100,000 in debt to make 20,000 a year? For ME, that would make me not want to pursue such a degree. So, no one cares if you don’t get rich. We just hope you don’t get in debt for it.
I honestly think Latin (and other subjects) are better off as minors with a major in something you’ll see financial reward in. However, that’s part of being an adult. You learn to compromise (or right do things you don’t like) to better yourself/future.
I do take Greek too. Maybe Hebrew next.
but all financial questions aside, is there value in studying the humanities in 2011? I think there is of course, or else I wouldn’t be doing it. But I am not good at explaining why and was hoping someone more articulate could help.
On a micro level, I hope PSXer doesn’t put himself into an uncomfortable level of debt over it. I’ve watched friends with liberal arts degrees spend 15 years struggling to cover the cost of living while paying down student loan debt - and while that degree in Theatre was a really enjoyable field of study, and doing community theatre has a lot of value in society in terms of providing entertainment and arts to the community, many of them don’t think it was worth it in terms of the quality of life hit they took post college.
On a macro level, I think the college loan bubble will be the next to hit - or if not next, it will hit in the next decade. You can’t bankrupt yourself out of it - but we can’t get blood from a rock either. I suspect we will regret the quantity of government backed student loans we’ve made.
I love Car Talk’s motto: Non Impediti Ratione Cogitationis, which they translate as “unencumbered by the thought process.”
I know med schools have been trending towards favoring non-science majors who fill premed requirements with electives. You might focus on the advanced degrees aspect when trash talking to other students. If you’re talking to say a Biology premed you can say his 4.0 might get him on a waiting list while yours gets you right in.
Well, what are you getting out of your education? Are you learning anything? Anything useful? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you probably SHOULD assess the value of your major.
I will say this. When I graduated from college with my BS, I didn’t feel like I had mastered my area of study. In fact, I felt like I had discovered just how little I did know. The deeper you dig, the more you realize how deeper you have to go to really understand it all. At least that was the take-home message I got when I left that institution.
So was my degree worthless? Of course not. Even if I hadn’t used it to pursue an advanced degree, I learned some things that could have made for an impressive resume for an entry-level position somewhere.
If you aren’t already pursuing internships and/or minoring in something that is career-related, then I advise doing so. There’s no sense in pretending that “learning for the sake of learning” is not a luxury for most people. If you aren’t most people and you have your ducks lined up in a row for a career post-graduation, then I say don’t worry and enjoy your educational experience. But if you are like most people and expect a degree in anything, from anywhere, to land you a great job, then I would saddle the Latin up with something practical. Like basket weaving (hey, someone’s got to make those baskets!)
If you can’t articulate why you value it then that’s a huge red flag which may be what people are seeing and why they question or mock you for your major.
