Oh, you’re doing Arts? But you seem smart!” If only I had a euro for every time I heard that comical, yet extremely degrading sentence.
As a student of the arts and humanities, I have become almost immune to the occasionally condescending jokes made at my expense.
Obviously these jokes are not always meant in malice, and are almost always hastily followed by the words “Oh, I’m only messing.”
But as you can imagine, it can become slightly tedious when the mere mention of the points I obtained in my leaving cert are followed by the question, "Why are you doing Arts then?" The answer is simple – I want to.
We cannot help but wonder where this perpetual disregard for the college course came from.
It can be assumed that the accessibility of the course due to typically ‘low points’ deem it more suitable to less intelligent students.
Since there are so many available places on the course here in NUI Galway – the average intake being 1000 – it can essentially be seen as the coward’s way out for someone who was not capable of high results in the leaving cert.
We are living in a society where we feel almost ashamed to tell people we are studying a subject which did not require high points.
If you are an Arts Student, you might experience a familiar feeling of inadequacy when someone informs you that they’re studying medicine or law, for example. We are brainwashed into thinking that these courses are undeniably more impressive or more important than the study of languages or art merely because they require more points, which is just not the case.
One word which tends to spring to mind when I consider this case is irony. When scrolling through my facebook feed one day, I came across a 'meme' expressing the laughable practice of those who turn their nose up at arts students, yet consistently read books, watch movies or read newspapers – all of which stem from individuals who have studied arts and humanities.
This almost satirical behaviour baffles me. Supposing the arts programmes were removed from universities entirely – all of these resources (newspapers, books etc.) would too disintegrate, or at the very least depreciate in quality, without the proper training of writers or film-makers.
These people who consistently affirm that “you’ll never get a job with an arts degree” are contradicting themselves, as they simultaneously provide arts graduates with an income.
As an Arts student, I can confirm that majority of my peers all achieved relatively high points in their leaving cert exams, and we are not undergoing this course because “it’s easy to get into”.
I would also willingly enlighten anyone who says it is an easy course, as they are totally misinformed.
Just like aspiring nurses and/or lawyers, I have a passion for the subjects I am studying, and a determination to get into a career which I thoroughly enjoy after we get our degrees.
And, I can honestly say I’m happy with my college course, undeterred by anyone’s opinions, which is ultimately the most important thing.
