A lot of my friends have majors in Lebow, and they’re all getting ready for four to five finals. They are always telling me that I have an easy major. I give them that impression because I’m always reading. Many of my friends can’t fathom actually enjoying their homework. More often than not, I get lumped in with communication majors with the “easy major” stigma. It is frustrating, because my friends don’t see me pouring over my essays to get the right words, and they don’t see me rereading the same passage again and again.
But you know what? English is an easy major. I’m not going to apologize for it, either. It is easy because I’m doing what I love. Nobody likes crunching numbers for accounting or reading stale textbooks about the expediture schedule. Duh. The reason why people with majors in the hard sciences or business feel they have hard majors is because they hate reading about their major. Then on top of it, whenever I have to write a paper I just have to write what I feel or think (emphasis on “feel” because it is just so girly to feel things). Whereas my friends have only one answer, and if they don’t get that answer they are wrong. It is easy to see where there is a lot of stress for them and pressure. All I have to do is defend my argument clearly and not make up BS.
Of course, then they never see preparing for any finals because most of my finals are final papers, and not nerve wracking final exams. In literature courses, there really isn’t any type of cumulative exam you could do except for maybe testing me on if I have read the material. Of course, I have been in classes where we have a final exam and it amounts to writing a couple of mini essays about themes discussed in class. But seriously, we can all admit that is less stressful than rote memorization of business facts.
English may very well be an easier major, but too bad for everyone else.
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That is laughable. Nobody from LeBow should be commenting on the ease of an English major. I spent a year and a half as a Business Admin. major and it was very painful, mainly for the reasons you pointed out, but … hard? Absolutely not. More work, possibly although I don’t think there’s a huge discrepancy either way.
The main problem with the business program is it doesn’t really specialize you in anything. I mean you don’t need an undergrad degree in Business Administration to work in the “business world” or get an MBA. Basically, the Bus. Ad. program is the Engineering program (with easier Mathematics and without the Physics) combined with the Economics program (without having to know anything that Marx or Smith ever wrote). I don’t really see what that gets you except a watered-down education.
Story of my life! I’m a film major… (“Yeah, well that IS an easy major,” haha.) The business kids never see us lugging hundred pound cases full of lights through the rain at 5 am and agonizing over the consequences of shooting with Tri-Ex or Plus-Ex stock. Hang in there English major!
A Lebow student complaining about a workload? That’s sad. Business students are the ones who deserve the slacker stigma (and after living in the Business Learning Community for three terms, I say that with confidence). The only class that I’ve ever really had to do any real reading for is English. In fact, my English textbooks are the only books I’ve bought all year! Rock on English majors.
I feel your pain. I’m an Education major, and I’m constantly accused of having an “easy” major. The other day I was on the phone with my parents and saying how stressed I was that in the next week I have to write a research paper, a three-week lesson plan unit, and a syllabus (among other things) and my own mother said something along the lines of “yeah, but it’s not like the work is THAT hard.”
What business majors (as well as engineers and most students of the sciences) don’t understand is that majors that rely heavily on theoretical knowledge are just as hard, if not harder, because unlike cramming for a multiple-choice final, we have to actually know our stuff!!