America’s top ten salary jobs are all STEM majors. As a college student, many are likely to apply for engineering majors even if their passion has to do with fine art. Many students these days constantly struggle with finding what they should do with their lives. And therefore, people majoring in art, journalism, and humanities are decreasing whereas majors in STEM are ever-increasing.
Especially in Asian American culture, it is rare to see parents encouraging their kids to be artists and musicians. Rather, they want their kids to be as successful as a lawyer or as a doctor. And because of this reason, students struggle on whether to follow their passion or listen to their parents.
However, Asian parents say that they want their kids to have a stable job as well as life. Because they have been through many years of life and they know for a fact that although money isn’t everything, you need money to have a steady living. Parents tend to say such things because they believe it is very difficult for artists, musicians, or filmmakers to be successful because the chances are very little.
But is it right to follow what your parents say? The problem is that one may hate what they do for living when they could do what they love to do. This not only causes stress but also causes people to hate their jobs. Then eventually, people will quit their jobs ultimately regretting that they haven’t followed their passion. Often times, students feel pressured to follow their parents’ sayings because they fear they will end up on the streets as their parents say.
Naomi Kim, a college student, shared her thoughts, “I definitely do think that when you are not in [the] STEM field, you have to seek for your opportunities. Rather than doing some research in a lab within the school, you actually have to search for internships. However, I don’t regret a single second for doing theatre art. And actually, majoring in something not STEM has helped me to be more social with others.” Kim emphasized that even though she didn’t major in STEM, she still loves what she’s doing.
In the end, although it is one’s choice of choosing his/her major, he/she should carefully consider their passions and their potential futures.
Minju Cho, 12
West Ranch High School
