I’m a Journalism major, but that doesn’t mean I don’t work hard

Dear Bio majors, Mechanical Engineers, heck — every major that thinks I can scribble and get an A: listen up, I’d like to see you try to succeed as a Journalism major.

Just because I don’t have to study how cell reproduction works, doesn’t mean I don’t have plenty of my own struggles. No, we don’t just have to write a lot of “papers”. We stopped writing those when you did — expos. We write articles, so please get your terms straight.

Writing an article doesn’t mean you can just vomit on a page and add big words to make it “better”. A matter of fact, it means you have to write at a 5th grade level so everyone can understand you. It took a semester’s worth of writing and constant struggling to dumb down my sentences for my professor to stop calling me Shakespeare.

As for exams, no — we don’t have many, but many does not equal none. Besides, being assigned an article in place of an exam doesn’t mean we get to just go home and write. Usually we have to go out and find our own story. Half the time this means covering a city council meeting, which range from excruciatingly boring to more entertaining than Netflix.

It’s at events like these that we do our studying. You can’t just go to a city council meeting, not listen or ask questions, but expect to go home and magically be able to write an article. A reporter has to listen closely and take notes. Remember, in order to write you also have to understand what has been said. So, we become knowledgeable about real-world situations while you’re studying code, perhaps.

We’re practically already working as reporters.

For all the running around we do, calls we make and people we’re forced to harass for quotes, I’d like some recognition.

You’re not the only ones stressed. If we could be stressed more than 24/7, we would be. Deadlines are literally always a part of our work. Missing a deadline in journalism doesn’t mean you can just turn it in late with deducted points. It means that story may not be relevant anymore. So, not only do you receive a lower grade, but the article probably won’t get published, which is the point of writing it in the first place.

Most importantly, for all of you STEM haters who like to remind us that you’re walking out with a higher base salary, I want you to think about something. Is it really you who’s winning when from the way you complain, it doesn’t even sound like you’ll be enjoying your life? If money makes you that happy though, you do you. The point is, we’re not hating on you, so please stop hating on us. Comments like “you’re lucky you’re a journalism major” are not only tiring, but really demeaning.

Besides, betcha didn’t know all this before you chose to say I have an easy major.

You’ve just been educated. You’re welcome.