Being in college for a year now, I realize that when I meet someone new, this is usually one of the first questions asked after I state my name:
“What’s your major?”
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So when I respond “English and Creative Writing”, there are a few different reactions, depending on the person. I have received answers such as:
“So... you want to be a teacher?”
As for others, there’s the general “Oh, okay” response, which is quite hard to read. From the optimistic students, I will get an occasional:
“That’s so awesome, man! Writing stories sounds fun!”
Unfortunately, this is the response I get from the majority of my fellow students:
“English? What are you going to do with THAT?”
At the beginning of last year, I was a lot more patient with the response to that question. I used to give a semi-lengthy answer, enumerating the possible professions that an English major can have outside of the education field, such as publishing, journalism, and even law.
However, after being asked this question at least once a week, I noticed a trend in the way it was said. Maybe people were not really curious about what someone can do with a Bachelor’s degree in English, but were rather trying to implicitly devalue its worth. While there was really no way of knowing for sure, it sounded consistently condescending. Therefore, I began to think to myself:
Why do people constantly feel the need to ask? And why should I feel obligated to explain myself about my own choice of study?
So, my response now goes something like this:
“I’ll be fine.”
I am sure there are also people who ask this question with fair intentions. Many are conditioned to believe that certain majors will not result in any meaningful jobs, so they might be curious as to why a person would choose a major with seemingly less opportunities. However, this is simply not true. A college major is not the be-all and end-all of job searching. Networking is just as important, if not more so. As the old saying goes, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
If anyone were to ask about what I can do with my major because they are genuinely concerned about my future, it is not their future to worry about. I certainly know that I do not have the most favorable major.
Of course, on a bad day, I will get the less ambiguous response from someone when I say I am an English major, the response that makes my skin crawl:
“That sounds really easy.”
I cannot express enough how angry this makes me. Whoever says this has no idea what it is like to write as much as an English major does throughout the week.
While I would love to spend pages and pages describing and validating the English major, I am writing today for all the other underestimated majors as well. It is not fun being the underdog in academia.
There are several key college majors that are high in demand for employers, thus making these majors superior in the job market. I completely respect those who choose these majors, because in all honesty, they are most definitely not for me. The fields of study that may contribute to more success in finding a job after graduation are certainly not for everyone. Subjects that come easily to some will be challenging to others, so there is really no way to measure the difficulty of a major. Personally, I am not good at drawing, painting, or sculpting whatsoever. I admittedly would not survive as an art major. However, I have friends who are very talented art majors, and art just comes naturally to them. They say it is what they are meant to do, and I also respect that. The list does not end there of majors that might sound easy, but really require a lot of skill. Life needs a balance; not everyone can be studying the same thing.
Although I respect all college majors, I am not even asking you to agree with another’s choice of study if you really do not want to. I am simply asking to not judge or undermine what someone chooses to study. Put yourself in the underdog’s shoes: would you really want somebody to be criticizing what you choose to major in? One is likely well aware of the pros and cons of their major. If not, it is the other person’s life, so there is no need to worry for them. If they are anything like me, they are tired of hearing all the negativity.
So, next time you are talking to someone new on campus about majors, try to keep an open mind and know that every student has different strengths and interests.
Think of the popular quote that musician Marc Anthony once said: “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
