Choosing a subject to major in as a college student may be one life’s most important decisions. Some typical questions will come to the minds of those who are trying to decide: What kind of job will I get with this degree? Will I be good at it? How much will I make at my job when I graduate? Do I enjoy this field of study?

All of the above mentioned are indeed important things to consider when making a decision. But one thing many students fail to ponder when reaching this decision is the relationship they may develop with their professors and classmates in their chosen field of study.

It’s pretty easy to make some quick distinctions between, say, the life of a physics major and that of a political science major. The physics student will be dealing lot with math and science. He or she should be good with numbers and long hours in a laboratory. He or she must also be good at analyzing lots of fine details and be excited about trying to decipher endless formulas.

A political science student will learn to love to read: There are all kinds of history, research, Supreme Court case laws, and tons and tons of other readings. He or she must be willing to partake in discussions while in class, be able to write lengthy research papers and have the tolerance to closely analyze politicians and the endless mistakes they usually make.

Of course, the two methods overlap. Many science professors interact with their students, sprinkling in discussion with their lectures, and many political science professors lecture more and notice questions only when they catch a breath. Like applause at an awards ceremony, questions are often held to the end. Stereotypes about both groups, however, abound. Popular culture depicts scientists as incredibly socially awkward, and students of politics as constantly-jabbering conversationalists whose only aim in life is to argue.

And while those stereotypes are often unfair and apply only to small minorities of the respective groups, science has much to learn from politics, and politics has much to learn from science. Requiring science to hold an intelligible dialogue with other disciplines makes it relatable to the rest of the world. And lest politics degenerate into constant argument with no decision or resolution, science will teach that there are, in fact, definitive answers to certain problems and that preferences are not always arbitrary. Some options are objectively better than others.

The important thing, for every person, is to be well-rounded. Each of us must be trained at something (which is to say, must be trained to think a certain way), but all it takes to appreciate everything else is a little attention, and a little practice.