Imagine having to answer the same annoyingly, judgmental questions every day as you talk to your peers, friends or family. Imagine having to explain exactly what you want to do with your life, or else nothing else makes sense. Imagine being filled with stereotypes simply because of the major you have chosen at college. This is the life of English majors almost every single day, but here are a few things all of us would like to clear up.
I'm an English major but I'm not going to be a teacher.
Whenever I tell somebody my major, they reply with, "Oh, so you want to be a teacher?" Yes, I understand why people would think that, but I wish they would understand that there are more things people can do with an English degree than teach, such as editing, publishing, creative writing, technical writing, etc. I do have a lot of respect for those who are in the teaching programs at school, but it is not for all of us.
I'm an English major but I'm not taking an easy route.
Another stereotype that comes with being an English major is that everybody seems to think that we have it easy. They think we just sit around and talk about books all day. In reality, yes we do read books and talk about them but it is so much more than that. Others complain about having to buy more than three books for a class, but try having to buy more than ten books for one English class and then expected to know read it, understand the deeper meaning, and then write a paper on just one book in less than two weeks. We have to take a million classes on American literature, world literature, British literature (different classes for different time periods, *groan*), Shakespeare, literary analysis, and so many more. And often times, because English professors are so passionate but also expect so much out of students writings, they will quite literally rip apart an essay to shreds until you are contemplating every word you have ever written.
I'm an English major but I'm not completely stupid when it comes to other classes.
Walking into a science, history, or math class and actually doing well might be a little shocking to others when they hear that you are an English major. I'm not sure why there is a stereotype that we are only good at reading and writing, when in reality those talents help us in all of our other classes. While you are over there struggling to write your four page paper on the Scientific Revolution, I'm over here cranking out six pages in no time because of how used to writing I am. So yes, we can be good at other subjects as well.
I'm an English major but I'm not going to be excited when you ask me to edit your paper.
I understand that it might make sense to ask an English major for help on a paper, and sure I would love to help, but I hope you understand that we are already so overwhelmed with all of the books, poems, essays, etc. that we have to read every single night and your messy paper is only stressing us out even more.
I'm an English major but I'm not completely clueless about what I want to do with my life.
When I tell people I do not want to become an English teacher, their response is always, "So, what do you want to do then," with this confused, judgmental look on their faces. I know exactly what I want to do; become an editor or publisher for either young adult books, magazines, or newspapers (print or online). Also, I know others who do not want to teach but would like to become a professional writer or creative writer. We all know what we want in life, and nobody's opinions are going to stop us from reaching those goals.
