Last summer I volunteered at my brother’s fifth grade field day. Confidently adorning my favorite SCSU t-shirt, I mingled with PTA mom’s and helped man the tug-o-war station for a solid six hours, give or take. Somewhere around noon I started making friends with a couple of mom’s who obviously felt as outcast as I did – a 19 year old girl, having been asked at least nine times which one of these kids was mine, actually a sister, not a mom at all – and the topic of my college education came into play. I’m always eager to start this conversation, being a double major in English and Social Work, because it’s something I’m proud of. Not only do I love writing, I love talking about writing, and I love challenging the stigma towards English, so as always it was quite the opportunity to open myself up. I started by saying I was an English Major and like time and time again, my new mom-friends gushed, “Oh so you’re going to be a teacher?” Everything in me, every fiber of my being, simultaneously jumped with excitement and anger at the comment – NO, I AM NOT GOING TO BE A TEACHER, ARE YOU REALLY THAT CLOSE-MINDED? “Actually, I’m going to be a social worker, I’m a double major,” I coolly explained. Okay, so I set myself up for that one, I could've just gone down the whole Social Work schpiel - but the teacher thing, it always gets me.

That being said, double majoring is probably the best choice I or anyone else could ever make; English is highly underrated. When I personally decided to pick up an English Major in addition to my Social Work major, a lot of people looked at me like I was insane. As a matter of fact, one of my professors actually asked me if I was insane. I assure you I am no more of a nut than the average college student is, but it was definitely a curious question: why double major when Social Work would provide me with a perfectly solid career? And a double major in English, of all things? Will I ever graduate? The solidarity of my future was not necessarily what I sought in my decision to take up English, and I definitely wasn't worried about graduation; I wanted to be a citizen of the world, and my success in any career would only be accomplished by the experience an English Major could provide me. Isn’t that what we all want?

I’ve been told that my choice is idealistic; what’s the point of pursuing something you love? Let alone wasting your time on something you'll probably never use?

My response? No more simpler than because my love for language and my very education in it have made and continue to make me a citizen of the world. Because of this I’ve been a white man struggling with sexuality and racist post-Apartheid South Africa in “Disgrace,” I’ve been a Methamphetamine addict from Reno in “Crank,” and I’ve been an epic adventurer of the Ionian Islands in “the Iliad” and “the Odyssey.” I’ve been a Chinese-American immigrant learning what it means to assimilate and simultaneously retain my culture in “The Joy Luck Club,” a Haitian woman trying to understand her relationship to family and her homeland in “Krik? Krak!,” an Orthodox Jewish teenager wrecked by the inhumanities of Auschwitz concentration camp in “Night,” and I’ve been the center of teenage angst and alienation in “Catcher in the Rye.” Some of these stories may be familiar to you, others foreign, but the significance remains nonetheless. The lessons and values these materials establish create a wide range of worldly individuals. In both listening to and analyzing the stories my English education has provided me with, I’ve traveled far and wide to hundreds of cities with thousands of extraordinary people. I’ve faced the conditions of humanity, empathized with the circumstances of the world, and learned what it means to truly be alive. I’ve been motivated by these stories to seek and achieve success; it is because of my love for language that this English education will not only gratify me, but empower my entire future. So when people ask me if I’m insane for taking up an English Major, I wonder if they’re insane for not. There are so many special things about the knowledge my favorite stories have taught me, and to apply them to my future is only the beginning of an extraordinary career.

So, when people ask me what I’m going to be able to do with a double English major, I ask them what I won’t be able to do. And how won’t I be able to apply all these things to my Social Work career, as well? Even if I decide I don’t want to be a social worker, I could take everything I’ve learned from my English degree and be the stereotypical teacher those PTA mom’s were so eager to label me; or, I could be an orator, write epic speeches for politicians, become the next J.K. Rowling, travel across the seas and become a translator or help others to learn the value of language in places far and wide; I could even become a lawyer, a screen writer, or work with marketing – there is no limit to where my education can and will take my career. Between its social value, moral capacity, pleasure-factor and wide range of utilitarian skills, the relevance and usefulness of the English Major become immeasurable in light of all this degree has to offer.

Some call it insane; I call it compelling, captivating, adventurous, success. So, no PTA mom’s, I will not be a teacher! And even if I am, who cares? Drop your stigmas, throw your stereotypes to the wind, and embrace all that an English education embodies!