I am not in the habit of regularly reading the Classifieds in The Observer, but reading the new online PDF makes it inevitable that the eye will pass over this previously forgotten section as the page scrolls up. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to see what could possibly fill the Personals section.
Now I am sorry I did. As a marketing major, imagine my surprise and dismay upon reading the following: "Get over yourselves, non-science/engineering majors ... your life is not that hard." I am well aware that this sentiment is widespread amongst those in other colleges; in fact, I have had science majors tell me (quite seriously) that because I am in the business school, I must not be as smart as they are. Maybe they feel a need to rationalize their choice of major by making it seem superior to others, or maybe they are just insecure about their own abilities. However, I can't imagine that someone could be that insecure that they would go to the time and expense of running a classified in The Observer to make themselves feel better. By the very fact that we are all enrolled at one of the most well-respected universities in the country, I think it is clear that we are all intelligent, hard-working students.
I respect science and engineering majors and the work they put in. I am glad that my fellow students want to be doctors, research chemists or civil engineers; someday, I will likely need their services and I will trust that they have been well-trained in their fields. However, I wish they would realize that hospitals and engineering firms do not run themselves. They will need us as well and it would be nice if they could understand that fact.
I respect the fact that students in other majors put a lot of time and effort into their school work, but so do we. We do not spend hours in lab every week, but we do spend hours working on group projects (just ask the senior marketing majors who were in the BIC well after it closed every night last week). We don't have to memorize chemical compounds, but we do have to understand and be able to apply laws, regulations and industry standards to everything we do.
Congratulations, science and engineering majors: You will leave Notre Dame with a great education and you will be poised to make a difference in whatever field you choose. But guess what - we will, too. Be proud of the work you do, but please don't feel that you have to justify yourselves by putting others down. It only makes you seem petty and childish, neither of which are attractive qualities in future Notre Dame alums.
Amanda Goyer
senior
off campus
March 27
