I am an English major.
I interned at the Oklahoma Gazette in the editorial department.
And I loved it.
Few of us choose a major based on our passions. Many of us pursue the idea of a career, money, and happiness. There is not one right answer. People react to my English major with pity, as though I chose the path of doom and regret. English majors have a bad rap. And that's okay. My English major allows me to do things I love. It's opened doors for me. And my summer internship proved to me that I am doing what I should be.
I was oblivious to the fact that I enjoyed editing until that last couple of years. I grew up reading books with my mom. We loved the content and the writing as much as we loved finding errors. To this day I call my mom with misspellings and missing commas and incorrect grammar in books I'm reading. Books published by major publishing companies.
I saw The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and was smitten with the editor-in-chief job. Maybe it's Sandra Bullock's charm, but I loved the idea of reading books for a living. *cough cough* Nerd!
Hollywood portrays writers as alcoholic bums, talented at nothing but staring at a computer screen and drinking hard liqueur in a glass. And this deterred me as a writer. Told over and over again I would make no living off of writing, that an English major was useless, so on, I was discouraged from the start. But I don't care what Hollywood or anyone says. I love to write. And I love to edit. It isn't glamorous; it's my passion.
The best part about editing is that it is one of the most necessary things in the world of communication. And only a handful of people enjoy doing it.
I am content with my major because I don't need to be a millionaire to be happy.
My internship gave me connections to people who enjoy editing and reading and Star Warsand Harry Potterlike I do. All the nerdy things that are rare finds in a person.
Several times, I have lost sight of my passions--sometimes for the fact that I'm surrounded by people that don't share them or I get caught up in the busyness of life.
This internship gave me a lot of experience, but it also opened the editing world to me—a world much grander in size than I initially thought. I learned how to triple check everything. My plans for the future changed. They broadened. And as much as I was encouraged with my major, I was cautioned to be open minded. And open minded I already am.
I got paid nothing except credit for school. And I received validation and a push forward to continue on this path. I don't have a clear cut path, but I'm content with what I'm doing. So the next time someone brushes off your major or your passions, ignore them. If you love it, do it.
