Many high school graduates face the conundrum of what to major in when they go on to pursue higher education.
Teens who haven't already sparked an interest in a particular field by the time they graduate wind up buying more time waiting for enlightenment by electing "undecided."
But to avoid any stigma of being an idle scholar, some students settle on majors they thought never existed.
"Fun with pasta," anyone?
While such a major might not exist, I wouldn't put it past some academia for coming up with it.
Curious to hear what those unheard-of specialized fields of study are out there, Redditor GazelleHistorical705 asked:
"What is the most ridiculous college major you’ve ever heard of?"
Majors with one word, please.
Sounds Like A Hard Major
"PENIS. My school offered a major in Political Economy of Newly Industrialized Societies, but eventually realized the acronym and changed the name. Pity. I hope some were able to get their degrees with a concentration in PENIS."
– OhMaiMai
Hidden Objective
"Golf."
"It was made so the Vice Chancellor could buy a private golf course for the university, so he could play on it. I believe it had 5 enrollments ever, and one was a joke that didnt show up or pay. It got cancelled the first year, but he got to enjoy his own personal golf course for some years after."
– jadelink88
Just Throwing Ideas
"Frisbee. A friends roommate at Amherst was in some kind of 'create your own major' thing and chose frisbee. His family had momey and college was just a formality."
– hightower65
Certain concepts as a major were hard to grasp.
Seed Of Despotism
"IIRC, like 20 years ago some college in Indiana offered a major in World Domination."
– Rev_Christopheles
"You can only get a job as a henchman with a BS."
"You need a full PhD to be an evil mastermind."
– JimBean823
A Vague Focus
"PhD in general studies."
– dravik
"Tf do you even write your dissertation about."
– Fragile_Line
"Everything."
– ProsciuttoPizza
"Generally."
– cropguru357
Let's Take It Outside
"An old friend has a Bachelor's degree in Outdoor Activities. He was never able to explain exactly what that meant, though."
– EnlargedBit371
"A guy I know majored in Recreation."
– kmsc87
"When I was there, my college had one of the top Parks Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) programs in the country."
"It had the nickname 'Party Right Through May.'”
"It was extremely popular with student athletes, especially football players."
"There’s always a demand for graduates too. It seems like one of those fields where you shouldn’t need a college degree to do the work, but you need one to get in the door."
– JimBeam823
Going At Your Own Pace
"When I was in uni my friend dated a guy who was majoring in leisure studies. I used to joke that leisure studies is a 4 year program, but if you’re good enough at it you can do it in 6."
– Mtldoggogogo
Things went up a notch.
Arghhh Ya Kiddin' Me?
"At MIT you can be certified in being a pirate if you complete the courses of pistol, archery, sailing, and fencing."
– yhdreytaweatrst
"It’s not a major, it’s a certificate. But if I ever get my own office it’s going in a very nice diploma frame and I’m gonna see who notices."
– PoorCorrelation
Veritable Hodgepodge
"My university had an Interdisciplinary Studies department that served mainly to get super duper seniors graduated. They would cobble together the random credits people got because they changed majors every semester into a 'degree.' You get some wild majors like a BA in Culinary Traditions and Music in the Former British Empire."
– pinelands1901
Sapphic Education
"My college briefly had a major in Nordic Lesbianism."
– WhizzleTeabags
"I've read many of the responses on here where most of them weren't ridiculous imo but you gave the best one!"
– 90DayTroll
"HUH."
– OP
Make It Up
"At a graduation at the University of Redlands. They have a degree whereby you basically take the classes you want and call it what you want."
"The degree conferred was, I kid you not: 'Still trying to figure out who I am.'”
– dmur726
Clearly there's a major for all occasions.
But at the end of the day, does it really matter as long as you have a BA in something to show you were academically tenacious?
Now go out there and carve out your own path, young scholars!
Just make sure you can pay off those student loans.
Maybe there should be a major on how to avoid debt.
People Reveal The Most Hurtful Thing A Medical Professional's Said To Them
What happend to a bedside manner?
There is a quote from the legendary Dorothy Zbornak played by the incomparable Bea Arthur on 'The Golden Girls' where she confronts a doctor, who when she was in her greatest hour of need, told her to go to a hairdresser. She says to him -in a crowded restaurant- "I don't know where you doctors lose your humanity but you lose it. You know, if all of you in the beginning of your careers could get very sick and very scared for awhile, you'd probably learn more from that then anything else!" Mic. Drop.
Redditor u/slinkslowdown wanted medical folks out there to hear from a few former patients by asking the people of Reddit to share.... What is the most hurtful thing a medical professional has ever said to you? Who wants a Dorothy moment?
I have a mirror. Thanks.
I went to get an earache checked and the first thing the doctor said was "Yeah so I'm gonna put you on some medicine for the ear but we've gotta do something about your face, your acne is absolutely terrible."
Thanks doc. CasenW
Lead with truth. Lives depend on it!
Getting out of the army- you are 100% healthy. My medical record was about six inches thick. Went to a civilian doctor and they were astonished anyone would say that. I am rated 80% disabled. larrycorser
My mother and grandfather were both injured in the army. They will do everything in their power to claim that you are healthy, because if you are injured they pay your medical bills for life.
They tried to tell Grandpa that losing all of his teeth and having a crack down his forehead did not qualify him for a purple heart.
Insert cringy surprise at how this blew up here. Story: Grandpa was in a tank, and a tank shell bounced off his turret and slammed his head into the other side of the turret. The reason they did not want to recognize his injuries is because he pulled the teeth out himself (they were loose) and refused treatment on the skull fracture. AntifaAreFascists
Can you hear me Now?
When I was 16 and dealing with partial deafness: "Sometimes being a teenage girl is hard, but it's hard to parent them too so there's no need to exaggerate things to make things harder for your parents. Knock it off, there's nothing wrong with you."
Two tumors, 9 surgeries, and a CSF leak later, yes doctor. There really was something wrong. ur_tears_r_tasty
Shake it Off!
You can't be in that much pain. You must have more energy than that. Turns out the lining of my nerves was being destroyed. I was becoming paralyzed, painfully. whyamisoawesome9
MS? My wife was finally diagnosed with that. Took several years and several Drs. If it is MS, or really anything else, then I hope whatever medication you're able to get helps prevent any further progression - best of luck and best wishes! IchthysdeKilt
Let's talk about your ears?!
"It's all between your ears" after missing at least one, but probably two crippling vitamin deficiencies by not ordering the right test. It took me two and a half years of thinking I was lazy and pathetic before I went to another doctor and got diagnosed. Zoefschildpad
But you're so young!
"I just don't know how you could be in so much pain being so young, I'm not going to be able to write you a prescription."
My response was, "You're a dips**t; I came in because I was hurt at work, doing heavy construction." I never asked for a prescription in the first place, I had assumed I was vetting an xray to see if I had broken anything. Lord_Stag
Walking is the Elixir!
You have no idea! I was in an auto accident when I was 14 but the doctors refused to do surgery to fix the issue because I was still growing. A few years later everything acted up and I ended up desperately needing that surgery. Afterwards I still had significant pain because my nerves were all screwed up because the issue had been left for so long. Every doctor I saw about it told me to "walk it off" and refused to give me any pain medication just because I was 19 at the time. I tried other stuff for a few years until finally, at 23, finding a doctor who took me seriously. IcedMercury
Bless you Miss Jeannie...
Wasn't said to me, but someone I knew. I work at a hospital, so does my mother. We had a forty-three year old woman who had a very rare form of cancer that spread incredibly fast to just about everywhere in her body. From diagnosis to death was about twelve weeks. The medications and therapies and the general lack of mobility caused her to become swollen and obese. She was a terribly sweet lady.
They took her down to Radiology for a scan and the technician made a bunch of really mean comments about her weight because she was too large for our machines so they had to arrange for a transfer to another hospital for her scans and then have her transferred back. The technician thought that because Miss Jeannie was dying and sick that she was deaf or didn't understand English any longer, and so while they were alone she made so many mean comments. Miss Jeannie waited until she was back in her room waiting for her transfer before she started crying. I'll never understand people who feel the need to make others feel less than or badly. carmelacorleone
No Words...
No me but my mom is a nurse. One of her patients got shot in the foot holding a door closed in a school shooting. He was back in the hospital because he got an infection after surgery. Doc walks in and goes "so I hope you learned your lesson about playing with guns." anoll69
Size Matters! The End.
I went to get a lump on my groin checked out, and had to remove my underpants. The doctor started a whole speech about "size isn't everything," which isn't what I went there for. stooble
Defibrillate this!
Not psychologically hurtful necessarily, but the most terrifying thing I've ever been told...
"We're going to have to defibrillate you and we don't have time to sedate you."
They rolled the crash cart with paddles into my room and I said "Get that thing the hell away from me!" and almost cried. My mom was in the room with me and was absolutely hysterical.
Thankfully a cardiologist was able to look at my EKG in the nick of time and determined my heart rhythm was stable enough for me to just be transferred to a room for further evaluation without defibrillation. HorseMeatSandwich
Well you're no prize Sir.
When I was 21 I went to the doctor for a checkup. The doctor asks me to lift my shirt and I do. He immediately says "egh" and makes a look of disgust on his face. I was an idiot and was gaining weight too quickly, due to this I had stretch marks. I've lost the weight and am normal weight now but I still can't shake that moment. This was 8 years ago. Reddit
Don't strike a pose...
I started going to a dentist that had come highly recommended by a few different people. When I asked him about the possibility of straightening my front teeth, he said "Well, you'll never be on the cover of Vogue, but I think we can help you out."
I stopped going to him a few appointments later when he got mad at me for telling him that the filling he did months ago still really hurt. Jollyville
Boys & Their Boobs...
"What are you going to do if your boyfriend would rather you had bigger boobs?" - said by the doctor to 15 year old me. I was getting a consultation for a breast reduction, because sporting G-cup was a nightmare. Still got it. No regrets. thekeyboardhero
NO ice cream for you Miss....
Me, when I was nine, about to go under anesthesia for the first time ever for oral surgery, and being extremely scared.
Nurse: You need to grow up. I've had kids half your age not be as much a scaredy-cat as you.
My mother was not, by any means, a helicopter parent.. .but the thrashing she gave that nurse, the other nurse who chuckled at it, and the doctor who came in was insane. And then she took me out of that office (the surgery was not a time-sensitive thing, just to fix a soon to be impacted adult tooth) and for ice cream. I had the surgery done at a different office with a staff that had far better bed-side manners. WalkerBRiley
Well Death it is!
Doc: "I can tell you're incredibly sick by your skin"
Me: (looks in the mirror) "oh no I always look like this"
Doc: "no it's grey and sallow and the heavy dark circles under your eyes; you look clearly very unwell"
Me: "really, I swear I aiways look like this without make up"
I really did look exactly how I do on a daily basis. Apparently deathly. BrassLabradors
Want a punch in the face?!
"You're 19, you shouldn't be having problems with anxiety!" MrSonicOSG
A Lack of Trust...
What chronic illness are we sick with today?
I was 12 years old. Puberty was kicking my butt. I was depressed and constantly sick because my home life was in shambles. But my mother dressed nice and was a well known figure in the community, so I was faking the illnesses I guess. Anytime a kid acts out for attention, I pay attention because it means something is going on. But that doctor just shamed me into the pit of despair. I've had trouble trusting any medical professional since. americanskux
I am who I am....
New doctor took my height measurement and jots it down before issuing me a very casual.
"Huh, tall for a woman."
I am a bearded man. MrBitchin
How about I sit on you Doc?
He said I should be happy carrying around a bit of weight.. Because in drought the fattest cows die last.... Seriously wtf. jezabelsoni
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