Below are the options that i have in my code

    <label id="subn">
      <select name="subs" id="subs">
      <option value="nothing">Choose a Subject</option>
      <option value="General Question">General Question</option>
      <option value="MemberShip Area">MemberShip Area</option>
      <option value="Others">Others</option>

      </select>
    </label>

and i want to create a javascript that well check if the user select a subject other than the first below what i tried using

if (document.getElementsByTagName('option') == "nothing"){
            document.getElementById("subn").innerHTML = "Subject is Required!";
            document.getElementById("subs").focus();
                    return false;
         }