Yup, this is it. I’m majoring in Anthropology.. and I love it.

I was at first really frustrated, because I wanted to be accepted to my family & friends who are all really smart. Everybody’s majoring in engineering or biology or whatever.. you get the idea. And then there’s me, without a major and don’t have the brains. And I’ve always had people telling me stuff like.. “Well, it doesn’t matter about other people as long as you like it.” Which is really true, but I can tell they don’t believe the words they’re saying.. :| Cause they’re the ones who are following what they believe will make the most money in their future. And then there are these super straightforward people who just tell me that I should drop out of college and start working cause they think I’m wasting my time.

I started taking Anthropology classes as if I did declare it, but I actually didn’t. I kept studying until one day we were discussing world theories. And my professor asked if there were any other ways of measuring and categorizing the world other than by first/second/third world countries or developed/developing countries. She said that this was such a self-centered categorization, because these terms were from the Western world and we just assumed that everyone should be like us. Everyone wanted the same thing and everyone wanted to be economically successful like us. True or false? I don’t know.. Can you really say that for the rest of the world who grew up in completely different places and had different ideals?

The way we were taught and the way we grew up is to value economic worth. Even in college, we have this invisible ranking system that sees people who are majoring in something that will make them more money at the top. But aren’t there other ranking system? Other categorizations?

My professor came up with happiness. As it turns out these so-called Third World countries are actually ranked at the top of this list of happiest countries in the world.

And I’m really just making this short (even though it’s long) and simple, but I started thinking… and I started to say to myself, “screw everyone, I’m doing this” and I really believe in these words now. I know I won’t accumulate wealth, I won’t measure up to my cousins or friends, I won’t make anyone in my family proud or happy to mention me. But, seriously.. who gives a shit? They can measure whatever they want.

To conclude, I want to quote something from a history textbook I had last year.. I copied this down back then and now I truly understand its meaning.

“Materialism reflected more than a desire for goods and physical comfort. It represented a quest for respect and recognition. Americans boast of their skill in money making and as it is the only standard of dignity and nobility and worth, they endeavor to obtain it by every possible means. Families were rated by the size, not the source, of their fortunes. Americans also emphasized practicality over theory. The esteem of the founding generation for intellectual achievement sank in the scramble for wealth.”