Students obsessively complain about workloads

To all those individuals who lack hope.

To all those individuals who lack even a sliver of optimism.

To all those individuals who lack in humility, gratitude, and contentment.

This is for you. And yes, it is a bit of a rant. 

I know I am far from perfect. I know nobody on this earth is, no matter how egotistical you may be. I know my reasons for what I do are based on the things I believe, which are, in summary, the reason for everything that I do. I will not make this about my sense of religion this time though. This time, it is about mentality. 

My sister and I were just having a nice chat the other day about all of this. We were immersed in the serene atmosphere of tranquility as colored by the trees, fragrant odors and vivid hues of the azaleas on one of the campus’ nature trails when we got to wondering just how many other people take the time to sit out here and relax. How many others stop to smell the air, and just escape the hustle and bustle of campus every now and then? How many take all of their enveloped spirits of pessimism, and lacking hope, and just spill their cares out into the world, where their effects do not stain another’s life, or their joy? 

My sister and I really got to thinking about our friends in the music department. A few of them are certainly some of the single-most humble and happy people I have ever met, at ultimate peace with themselves and with life. Others, however, could not be more competitive or discontent. I would consider myself in that building quite often, and when I hear yet another complaint of how “much better I thought I was, how did they beat me at auditions?” or “I practiced forever, I should be in the higher band,” it truly shocks me. Of course, there are also those times when major difficulties come into play. I am in the Music Building a lot because I am involved in bands, a band fraternity, and because most of my friends are there. I am a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education major. I know my major and music are never classified as going together hand-in-hand, but when the debate of the more important major comes up, I just want to walk away (it’s not worth the argument). We both have our benefits, we both have our disadvantages, and I understand both perspectives (I am far from being biased). 

That is not the ultimate problem. What irritates me the most about the major debate (which is, indeed a major debate,) is when a good number of the music majors fight to prove their perspective that they have the toughest major. I am not in any way picking on the music majors nor that department (obviously, I am very close to it myself), but this is where I hear the majority of it from. So maybe my major does not require my shutting myself up in a practice room for days upon end, rehearsing scales. The cool thing about ASL is that I do not need a sound-proof practice room in order to develop my skills. Some will debate that their major is better. Yes, I do agree that music is pretty much a universal language (even the Deaf can see visual interpretations of music). Glad for you music majors, you are showing what we like to call “passion.” However, that clearly does not give you the permission to bring down other majors. Glad you found the proper career path for you, but seriously, you have to work with every other degree plan in your lifetime. If all you are going to do is argue about “how much better your major is than everybody else’s,” I calmly suggest a school where their sole focus is on music. Another argument goes as this: “My 15 hours of course credit really is more like 20 because...*various reasons here*”. Okay, so recital credit, and studio or lessons and whatnot don’t count as credit hours. Are you seriously complaining about what is supposed to help your major? I have to do at least ten hours of service projects for my SPH-274 class, but am I complaining? Nope. Instead, I am looking forward to this opportunity. 

Opportunity. If only more people would use that term, honestly, then mentalities and mindsets sure would be viewed upon a great deal more optimistically. Yes, some of these people I am referring to are actually a few of my very closest friends. I feel like some of them do not even realize the causes of their own mentalities sometimes. Nonetheless, I just had to rant because it really is an overwhelming and disheartening ordeal when all I hear on campus is people wanting to complain about their major, and fill their already large egos because they cannot find contentment. 

Sara Zavorka is a junior Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education major and a staff writer for The Pine Log.