English Majors

Long time, no blog.

Here’s something that’s been irking me lately: the perplexed looks from people when they find out that I’m an English major. I’m sure such reactions are the norm for most liberal arts majors. I see it happening fairly often. More specifically for English majors, it’s as if they can’t fathom why someone would want to do such a thing. Oh, and you better be prepared with an answer when you get asked the inevitable question: “What exactly do you want to do?” Don’t wait too long to answer, because then you’ll be hit with “are you gonna teach?” Not that there’s anything wrong with teaching English at all. I respect my fellow English majors who want to go into teaching. I think that’s great.

It’s just a little bothersome when people assume that teaching is the only path to follow with a degree in English. I’ve been defending my major for so long that now I try my hardest to avoid talking about it. When I do get asked what I’m majoring in, I have to endure the quizzical head-tilts and frowns from nearly everyone. This is usually accompanied with a “why?”

I just needed to put this here. English is such a broad field of study, and there are so many job opportunities out there. No need to hate on the English people! Our major is as significant as any other. Here’s a helpful tip for the next time you cross paths with an English major: instead of making them feel bad for not studying anything “real and worthwhile,” you should consider all of the papers that he or she has to write…and how devastating it is for them to log into Facebook and to be traumatized by the myriad of grammatical errors.

I also suggest being nice to them because they may edit your paper for you one day.