"So...Italian major...what are you going to do with that???"

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that response...I could pay for grad school! I'm not going to lie, it's beginning to get a little bit old. Not that it's going to change my mind, I love where I am and I would not change it for the world. I'm not asking anyone to understand that, but anyone who is truly passionate about what they do knows what I'm talking about, and I pity anyone that is doing something they are not passionate about.
What bothers me a smidge is how people minimize me as a person because of my major...as if I'm doing Italian because I couldn't do law school or med school or whatever else it is that is considered to be so fantastic. Maybe that's the problem with colleges in general...they put way too much emphasis on classifying you by your major, until you become a number within a group of English majors or History majors or whatnot. I understand the need for specialization, and even the desire for it by students (God knows I would die if I had to take another math or science class!), but somewhere along the way, to use a cliche', you can't see the tree for the forrest. In other words, people begin to look at students based on their academic grouping and ignoring the things that make them unique. Sure, I'm a proud Italian major, and I love it, but it's only a small part of who I am as a person.
I'll end my rant shortly, because I have a Beethoven exam to study for, but I suppose the point I would like to make is for goodness' sake...get to know people! Your teachers, your friends/acquaintances, your parents, your grocery clerk, your mailman...people are more than their titles, and maybe I'm wrong here, but I can speak at least for myself: they have a deep desire to be known, to have others recognize them for who they are and appreciate them, to have other people witness and share their lives.

On a slightly different note, I've had a suggestion to write blogs in Italian, which I would LOVE to do, but that would severely limit my readership...which defeats the purpose a little, no? Chissa', maybe I'll try it someday, for now I'll just throw out little Italian phrases here and there, and kudos to anyone who takes the time to figure them out ;) !
Sogni d'oro!