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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Business majors do work

Breaking news for Notre Dame students:Business majors do work. Seriously.Sometimes they even do a lot of work. Maybe even more than you.We all know that Notre Dame is a campus of stereotypes. I've taken it upon myself to defend the oppressed townies, Zahm guys and SMC chicks, although apparently the Belles still don't like me very much. I really was just making a joke about husband-hunting, although if you're this defensive ... I'm not even going to go there. But even people who tolerate Zahm, respect those at all-women's MIAA conference schools and look past the zip code of Penn High School graduates can still cling to the belief that a major in business is the same as a major in partying. As someone who has shared living quarters with engineers and pre-meds, I have experienced firsthand the discrimination that comes along with a degree (pending graduation) in business administration.Some of the most stressed-out people I know are business students. I know marketing majors who get up early every weekend to do work. I know accounting majors who don't go out on Fridays because they have too much to do. I know finance majors who don't do any work at all, ever, unless lying on a couch and watching Family Guy is work. But people like that tend to be exceptions to the rule. Mostly, we business majors are busy with projects, exams, papers and homework - I know for a fact I take more exams and do more projects than my pre-professional roommate.For the record, I'm not trying to bring down the engineers or the archys or the pre-meds. I'm not trying to discriminate against Arts and Letters kids. Come on, my other major is English - don't act like you're not impressed. I'm just throwing an idea out there: maybe you need to rethink your views on business majors. Let's face it, the vast majority of engineers, architects and doctors are going to end up working for a business major. It's business majors who can keep a company running properly, despite all your skills in the applied and life sciences. Who runs the hospital? A CEO. That's usually someone with a business degree. And an accountant somewhere down the line will be the one signing your paycheck. Having fun in college doesn't mean you can't be a serious student. Majoring in business really does teach you immediately applicable life skills. How else would I know how to design a Web page, read the Wall Street Journal's endless pages of stock quotes or make a detailed budget for a project? Without business majors, this school would crumble.So the next time you're on your way to lab and look down your nose at a business major, think twice. Maybe that kid's all-nighter was spent in the library, not at Heartland. Don't be jealous that you're stuck in lab and he or she could be your boss someday.Mendoza? Fine by me.