There exist two classes of students in this world, each with a different concept and definition of what is a sensible and useful career choice.

Individual No. 1 is an accounting and finance major on the Fast-Track MBA program that clearly possesses prudence and common sense.

Individual No. 2 is a creative writing major on a fast track to nowhere in the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences. He believes he exhibits passion and desire ‘ qualities he believes the School of Management student lacks entirely. The question is, which student will flourish in a cutthroat and fast-paced society after graduation?

My claims may seem presumptuous, but I’d be a hypocrite to pretend I didn’t believe in the aforementioned statements. I used to be individual No. 2: the creative, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of student who believed my passion for writing would grant me fulfillment and contentment in life. However, I conveniently excluded from the equation the importance and necessity of a gratifying paycheck that would pay my bills and other everyday living expenditures when I departed from the simplicity of the university bubble and entered that looming ‘real world.’

Now a double major in English and psychology, I feel as though I have more opportunity and versatility when I graduate a year later than planned, in 2010.

Living with pre-medicine and management students the entirety of my stay here at Binghamton University, I have secretly always felt somewhat ‘unchallenged’ by the coursework provided by the English department. The stereotype that ‘English majors are those who can’t do anything else’ wore on me until I finally decided this summer to research the annual incomes and wages of different careers available to me with a creative writing degree. My findings were troubling to say the least. I was tired of having to stand up to the brash opinions of those who felt their intelligence was far superior to my own, so I finally figured that if I can’t out-earn ’em, I’d at least join ’em.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being an English, history or psychology major ‘ each is just as important as the next. The only disadvantage to us Harpur students is the inability to obtain a job in that field straight out of school with only a bachelor’s degree.

A bachelor of arts degree, in most cases, is the new high school diploma. It is almost essential to earn a master’s or even doctorate degree depending on how much opportunity you would like to be afforded in the viable job market.

A graduating accounting major may earn up to $50,000 to $60,000 a year without further schooling. As much as I hate to admit it, the academic standards do differ dramatically from majors in the Watson School of Engineering and SOM to comparative majors in Harpur College.

The passion over practicality argument boils down to this: it is truly important to love the work you’re doing because, let’s face it, who wants to be stuck doing something you’re not passionate about for the rest of your functioning life? But it’s almost as important to remember that analyzing what you’ve got, as well as what you haven’t, is a necessary ingredient for a career.