Auburn University offers hundreds of degrees to suit different areas of interest. Three of the least-common minors and majors at Auburn are botany, dance and interdisciplinary studies.
When Auburn was first founded in 1856, it was primarily a school for agriculture and engineering. Since then, the school has grown in other disciplines, but there are some areas, such as dance, that are only offered as a minor.
"If there was a [dance] major, I'd be one," said Ashlie Lauderdale, junior in biomedical sciences with a minor in dance.
After doing what they love for most of their life, many dancers at Auburn said they aspire to dance professionally, according to Lauderdale.
Lauderdale said there are often misconceptions about what is actually involved in the curriculum with majors or minors such as dance. She said if there was one thing she could make people understand about dance as a minor, it would be that it is a serious subject.
"People tend to think it's an extracurricular-type deal, like it's not actually hard when it is," Lauderdale said. "It's a three-credit class."
Another uncommon major at Auburn is botany, the scientific study of plants. There are only three students majoring in botany.
"Botany is an extremely diverse field with lots of disciplines under the title," said Evan Kilburn, junior in botany. "I'd say it's misunderstood due to a lack of knowledge about it."
Kilburn said botany has an intense College of Science and Mathematics curriculum.
"I am often asked, 'What are you going to do with that?' because many are unaware of the different, exciting careers open to someone with a botany degree," Kilburn said.
Kilburn said botany is not just a boring, basic study of plants, there is a wide array of career fields open to botany majors.
Kilburn said he is excited that he may one day be "fighting invasive species around the globe, finding new cures or even working in research and development" because of all the options botany offers.
Samuel Price, junior in interdisciplinary studies, said one of the most confusing majors to attempt to explain is interdisciplinary studies.
"I think many more people would choose to do it if they knew how easy it is to customize your own major," Price said.
Interdisciplinary studies is designed so students with a specific career goal in mind can design their own curriculum based upon classes they think they will need to accomplish their dream.
"This semester, I am teaching Indian music to children in India that haven't really had exposure to it, which is definitely something I'd probably want to continue doing," Price said.
Price said if there was one thing he could clarify about his major, it would be his major has good career prospects.
"People think it will be hard for those of us majoring in IDSC to find jobs, when really we are more equipped to find a job because our major is so specific for what we want to do," Price said.
Students in majors as uncommon as these wish for people to learn about what their major entails before disregarding or judging it as lesser, according to Kilburn.
"It's always good for people to know more about something you love," Kilburn said.
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