Let’s get one thing straight, there is no escaping the fact that there are certain stereotypes that surround certain majors. Theatre major? Have fun working at a call center. Anthropology major? Good luck scrubbing bathroom floors. Mechanical engineering? Behold the next Bill Gates and the list goes on. Multiply these stereotypes by 10 if you live anywhere in Egypt because there are only two majors that actually count here: Medicine and Engineering, especially for male students because studying arts or social sciences is not even an option that should be considered.
Via We Heart It
Majoring in arts or social sciences comes with a whole lot of stereotypical baggage; imagine the disappointment on people’s faces when I had to tell them that I am an English Literature major. “Oh, adab engelizi? So, how are you going to find a job?” was always the first thing that came out of their mouths. The idea of studying something you love is so far-fetched that society would rather have you wasting four or five years of your life studying something that bores you to death. When parents go around saying ‘ana benty doctorah’ (my daughter is a doctor) or ‘ana ebny mohandes’ (my son is an engineer) whilst forgetting the fact that they still can’t find a stable job to sustain their living is very problematic. Titles mean nothing if you can’t do anything with them.
Going against society’s expectations is not easy especially since society has been wired to think a certain way without any proof. My mother was very supportive of my decision to flake on business and follow what I truly love because she too was a victim of society’s expectations, having been forced to give up on her dream of studying visual arts, she found herself wasting four years on business school only to have no use for it in the end. As for me, I loved literature, I loved reading Shakespeare and Dante, I loved analyzing manuscripts written by unknown authors and books that were banned for the sole reason of challenging the system, but again, I was constantly faced with the whole ‘hatakly 3eish ezay?’ (How are you going to make a living?).
Via We Heart It
I, however, did graduate and I found more than one job, but I chose to go with what my heart tells me. I love what I do and I’ve never been happier whilst my engineering friends who are still trying to revive their parents’ dreams are, to this day, failing classes in college. Some of the very people who have doubted my field of study are still struggling to find a job. A lot of my friends graduated from business only to take a completely different career path afterwards.
When is society going to realize that engineers and doctors are not the only jobs that exist? With all the negativity swirling around, it can be difficult pursuing what you’re interested in, but I always like to challenge misconceptions and so I took it upon myself to educate those who still think this way. I understand that some people do not have the luxury of going against their parents’ wishes and doing what they love but to those struggling to follow their hearts, I’d like to be one of the few people who encourages them and assures them that it does work out in the end.
