I’m a Creative Writing major, and if you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you also have an unconventional, creative or unusual major. You’ve also probably been asked the question, “What do you want to do with that?” more times than you can count. If you’re anything like me, and it’s okay if you are, you still don’t know what you want to do with it. The way I see it is, there’s no wrong way to use a degree but when I sit and really think about what I want to do, I can never come up with one answer. I want to write movies that make my audiences cry, laugh, cringe and think. I want to write books that readers never want to put down. I want to write plays and win Tony Awards. I want to write articles that change people’s minds: to challenge them to think deeper and harder. I want to dabble in special effects makeup. I want to meet people and go places. I don’t want to live life in one place.
I chose a “creative” major not because it was “easy” but because I knew it was going to put me on the path that I needed to be on. Creative majors are not wrong majors. The only wrong major to be in is the one that's not going to put you on the right track to where you want to be. I’ve been told many times how hard of an industry writing and show business is to prosper in but when I hear that all I hear is that I’m not good enough to make it. That I don’t deserve to be there. Whenever I hear it, I do not take it as an insult, I take it as a challenge.
The only person standing between where I am and where I want to be is me. The only person that is going to stop me from reaching where I want to be is me.
So, if you’re in the same boat as me - If you look into the future and smile when you think about all the possibilities or cringe when you realize you do not know what you actually want to do, be still. Stressing about the future isn’t going to make anything better, and you've still got time. One day it’ll hit you like a pound of bricks and you’ll be like, “Duh, why didn’t I think of this sooner?!”
Creative majors are not useless majors. Creative majors are just that: creative. For now, it’s okay if your dreams scare you because one day they will not.
You’ll look back on these days one day out of the blue and you’ll realize how silly your doubts were because you were on the right path the whole way.
Bottom line: You are good enough to be in your major. You are good enough to make your dreams come true. Creative majors are not useless. "Just do it" - Shia Labeouf.
