OPINION: The kind of music you listen to based off of your major

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Van Meter Hall on Jan. 13, 2021.

Rose Donnelly, Commentary writer

As a self-proclaimed music connoisseur, I am super qualified for making assumptions about the music you listen to solely based on what you have decided to dedicate four years of your life studying.

A little reminder before you come for my throat, I couldn’t do all of the majors at WKU but I tried to fit in as many as I could. 

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences

Education majors, no matter what age group you’re planning to teach, you listen to “sing-along” songs made for kids who haven’t learned how to read yet. 

Organizational leadership people, I don’t actually know what your major is but you give off Ed Sheeran vibes. I’m not going to explain why. 

Psychology majors, let’s be realistic here, all of you secretly want to be FBI forensic psychologists. Your obsession probably started with Criminal Minds, but now all you listen to between classes are crime podcasts

College of Health and Human Services 

Dental Hygiene majors, I respect your aspirations to take care of people’s oral health, but every single time I go get my teeth cleaned the dental hygienist is ALWAYS humming a hymn in my ear. You have “Abide With Me” playing on repeat. 

Health Care Administration, your motto is ‘Jesus saves, but so do these health care workers.’ You only listen to Christian pop. You hated when Lauren Daigle was trending because you knew that no one understood the song. 

Kinesiology students, you just finished your third protein shake and told a random student the importance of stretching before and after a workout. I can hear you listening to outdated Drake songs from your AirPods as you enter Preston for your second workout of the day. 

Nursing majors truly scare me. You don’t put up with any shenanigans. To prepare yourself for the day you watch videos of babies crying and laugh at them. 

Social Work, your major can be quite depressing and emotionally draining. As a way to recharge you listen to essentially elevator music; instrumental music covers of popular songs. 

Gordon Ford College of Business

Accounting students, you are the Greek version of math majors. You enjoy having a good time and I could see you listening to Lil Nas X when you are doing your homework. 

Finance majors, you listen to AJR on the way to your only Friday class at 12:45 pm, attempting to relive the FarmHouse party you threw the night before. 

Marketing students, you are little country fiends. Cowboy boot, camo wearing rednecks. Nothing gets between you and your pop country, big green tractor music. 

Sports management, you have always given me the impression that your significant other cheated on you and you refuse to get over it. You think it’s a personality trait to post on your Snapchat story Trippie Redd songs about heartbreak.

Ogden College of Science & Engineering 

Agriculture majors, I fully believe you eat dirt as a fun pastime. You listen to generated children’s books animal noises as your form of music. You critique and simultaneously appreciate the accuracy and buoyancy of the sounds.

Architectural Sciences students cannot wait to destroy any perfectly good home with rustic chic interior design. At the end of a long day of doodling unrealistic house designs, you fall asleep to the soft tones of HGTV show intros

Biology students only think about independent and dependent variables. You don’t have time to appreciate music, so instead you put animal documentaries on in the background as you study because you believe you can passively absorb the information. 

Chemistry majors, you are the stock image that pops up when you type nerd in a search engine. You listen to anime scores and actually know what they are saying. 

Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing Engineering, all exclusively listen to the Minecraft soundtrack on loop. 

Computer Information Technology majors, similarly to engineering students, you only put on the Terraria soundtrack while you walk home after spending all day staring at your computer. 

Computer Science, you are always on your laptop typing away making code. As a way to relax at the end of the day, you don’t listen to music, but rather ASMR typing videos

Geology majors, I imagine you hiking some mountain trying to find this very rare rock and you stop to take a break and listen to some Gregorian chants. I think it’s the echo in the canyons and the deep guttural vibe I get from all geology students that just make these chants perfect.  

Mathematics students, inversely you are the nerdy Greeks. You love literally any song that mentions numbers, but you have a special place in your heart for They Might Be Giants: “Here Comes the 123s.

Meteorology folks, you just play the 10-hour rainstorm background music and argue it is the music of the atmosphere. 

Physics majors love hearing a bowling ball and a tennis ball crash into the floor during experiments, but for pleasure they listen to TV static to remind them of the transfer of electrons.

Potter College of Arts and Letters

Anthropology students, I am convinced you don’t listen to music. You are too busy watching History Channel documentaries about Mesopotamia

Broadcasting majors radiate a sort of vintage energy, specifically radio broadcasting. You probably listen to Glen Miller or Louis Armstrong swing music.

English students want music that they can overanalyze to the point where the songs have no meaning. You love Bob Dylan’s music because you believe he’s a lyrical genius. 

Film majors, you love a good movie soundtrack, but your true guilty pleasure is the background scores in the movies that no one pays attention to. 

History majors, the only music you actually listen to is “We didn’t start the fire” by Billy Joel. You spend the rest of your time watching those John Green Crash Course videos the night before your exam.

Journalism students only think about the news. You don’t have time to listen to regular music because you’re too busy catching up on the latest NPR broadcast.

Music students love to flex how well they can sing Adele songs and classical music. On the outside you pretend to have phenomenal taste in music, but in reality you are an Oliva Rodrigo superfan. 

Philosophy majors are obsessed with being edgy. We get it, you think you’re better than all of us. Your only personality trait is Friedrich Nietzsche and “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” by The Smiths. 

Photojournalism students give off ‘I’m cooler than you vibes’, which is probably true, but you only listen to “Iris” by The Goo-Goo Dolls and I 100% believe you have taste. 

Political Science majors seem perpetually bored. You are reading legislature and court cases all day and all you can stand to listen to is extremely dry classical music. Not the good classical music, but the ones no one ever plays because they are snoozefests. 

Religious Studies students, unlike philosophy majors, you are edgy without trying. You love and appreciate how people worship all around the world. You listen to Enya while you read old scripture and write papers about theology.

Sociology majors are aware of people’s social behavior around the world. You have an indie folklore energy and enjoy the band Neutral Milk Hotel because of their album influenced by Anne Frank. 

Theatre majors, you definitely get a bad rap but it’s solely because you unironically listen to Glee Cover songs for enjoyment. Enough said. 

Visual Arts, you are way too hippie and indie for your own good. As a way to focus yourself before working on your art piece you listen to a guided meditation

I genuinely love how your major is a reflection of who you are and who you want to become. What you interact with daily really influences what you do and what you listen to. 

If you enjoyed my assessment of your listening habits, you should follow me on Spotify; @  Rose Donnelly.

Commentary writer Rose Donnelly can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @RoseDonnelly_