People are hard to please.
When I was a senior in high school, everyone grilled me about where I would go to college. I finally decided I would spend my years at ASU but that wasn't enough.
Next, relatives, teachers and people in line behind me at the grocery store would probe me until I declared a major.
Now, I can finally stand tall and proudly announce to all that I am studying journalism at ASU. Instead of receiving cheers and applause for my incredible decisiveness, I am pelted with a new monster that I don't know how to answer: "What are you going to do with that?"
The question isn't just annoying. It's the type of question that gives 20-year-olds ulcers.
People could ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" or "Where would you like to work?" I would even be happy with, "If you were stranded on a desert island with only your journalism degree, would you: A) use it as kindling for a signal fire, B) tack it up on the palm tree for decoration, or C) give it a name, and talk to it like Tom Hanks did with the volleyball on 'Cast Away'?"
There are so many creative options available when it comes to learning more about someone's career goals. Why resort to, "What are you going to do with that?"
I know journalists aren't as beloved as Santa Claus, but my choice of major is not so repugnant that it must be referred to as "that."
The question is limiting and creates pressure. But for the record: Six months after I graduate, I am going to take my degree and show it to the people at a small-town paper where I will snag a gig as a beat reporter. Then, I will use the experience I build and the Pulitzer Prize I win to land a job at The Washington Post. I will move up in the ranks to become an editor, and after 20 long years of faithful service, I will retire to write a bestseller, living out the rest of my days in Hawaii, getting fat off royalties.
It's the perfect ridiculous answer to a ridiculous question.
Most college students are in their 20s and are not ready to have a divine plan mapped out and ready to share on demand. Let us be vague and keep an open mind with what we want to do with our lives.
Questions like, "What are you going to do with that?" diminish the value of higher education. Too often we see a university education as a means to an end. It is just the path that we have to muddle through so we can end up with a job that brings home the bacon. While bacon and other pork byproducts are great, what happened to learning just for the sake of gaining knowledge?
It is important for universities to train students to become competent in the field of work they pursue, but it isn't necessary to afflict students with tunnel vision. All students should have a diverse understanding of history, art, science, math, literature and everything else to become well-rounded and open-minded citizens of the world.
I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with my degree when I finally graduate from school, but I am learning some polite comebacks for that ubiquitous question along the way:
"I am going take my education and become a knowledgeable and contributing member of society. What are you going to do with THAT?"
Lynh Bui is a journalism sophomore. Reach her at lynh.bui@asu.edu.
