Why English majors are proper students too

“So, what are you going to do with that?”

This question is the predictable follow-up to the declaration “I’m an English major.” An English major, at least in today’s culture, is frowned upon. What are you going to contribute to society?

When picking a major, you are almost always steered towards the “helpful” majors: business, science, engineering, and anything dealing with computers. They say the arts and humanities are dying, that no one is going to hire an English major. I’ve even had someone ask if I always wanted to be a barista, because that is the only job I would get with my degree. While I do enjoy a nice cup of coffee, my English major can steer me in so many different directions, and I don’t have to feel sorry for picking a subject in the humanities.

You can’t do this with an economics textbook

Like almost every English major, I had the crisis of whether or not to declare my allegiance to the arts. I was set on becoming a student in marketing and mass communication – something I could flex my creative muscles in. I could not, however, get into my math classes. I was trying to fit myself into a mold I definitely wasn’t made for, and I wasn’t happy.

Discouraged, I went to my advisor at the time and she gave me the best piece of advice I’ve received thus far: do what makes you happy, and you’ll thank yourself for it.  That same day I decided to declare an English major and I have not looked back. I am not going through the motions of getting a degree – I am enjoying the experience and indulging in my favorite pastime.

Declaring an English major gave me the courage to try my hand at editing for a journal on campus!

English majors, contrary to popular belief, are not just reading Old English and getting a degree for it. As English majors, we learn about everything under the umbrella of this language. Science, history, sociology, psychology, astronomy, even other languages are all fair game. Last week, I was learning about the principles of thermodynamics in order to understand the nuances of a particular novel. Our major also stresses the importance of word choice, something that many -like certain politicians *cough cough* – could benefit from. I’m not preparing to be a barista – I’m preparing to be so much more.

I’m currently learning about gender inequality and the depiction of women as monsters in John Milton’s works. Though I’m not drilling equations into my brain, I work hard too

So let me backtrack to the question posed earlier. What will I do with my English major? Who is going to hire you? Where are all those English majors now?

We are the future teachers of your children, the creators of your favorite television shows, the writers of your favorite novels. We are the writers of grants for the sciences, the journalists, the lawyers, the doctors, the people who tell you how to accurately put together that treadmill you just bought. We are songwriters, storytellers, editors, efficient communicators. The English major leaves open options for careers that many majors don’t allow.

Next time someone asks what you’re going to do with an English major, give ’em a smile and say “whatever the hell I want.”