I love reading and writing. I love analyzing the meaning behind the details. I am a writer, and I am proud to be an English major. Here is a list for current English majors to relate to, and a list for future English majors to understand what they're getting themselves into.
People automatically assume you want to be an English teacher.
For some reason, if you are working towards your English degree, you have to become a teacher or a professor. Often, this is actually not the case. Usually, only about half of English majors actually want to become teachers, while the other half have other career ideas.
“What else can do you with an English degree?” will be the following question.
Having an English degree means that you are extremely capable of communicating your thoughts to others, whether through conversation or writing. Often, businesses desire employees who have a good background in English for their skills in creativity, critical thinking, and communication. Having an English degree is also recommended as a pre-law degree. Of course, there are also those who desire to be editors, publicists, and writers.
Everyone expects you amazing at writing essays.
Even in freshman year, when you have come from the same educational background in high school. Don’t be discouraged if you are not immediately the top of your class. You don’t have an English degree yet!
So naturally they want you to edit their essays.
You’re everybody’s best friend when it comes to essays. People who even hear that you’re an English major, even if you’re not necessarily friends, will come to you for help editing papers, official documents, or anything with words.
You get used to correcting everyone’s grammar.
All that time you spend editing everyone’s essays begins to take control, and if you weren’t a grammar Nazi before, you definitely are now. It becomes one of your trademarks, and the most common way to spot the wild English major.
Then whenever you make a grammar mistake, it’s suddenly a big deal.
You’re human, too! You’re going to make mistakes, and everyone you have ever corrected will be there to see it. It will be one of the happiest moments of their life. It won’t be so happy for you, but it will be a nice change.
You will be expected to be fluent in all classic literature.
And have read all of the classic literature on the planet.
Your composition professors will challenge you more than the rest of the students.
Yes, it will be frustrating as heck. How could they expect so much out of a freshman? They do this to challenge you, to make you want to do better, because they believe you have potential. Don’t despair! It’s just their Jedi mind trick.
You will no longer have copious amounts of time to read or write for pleasure.
College is a lot of homework for everyone, and honestly, most people don’t get much free time for their hobbies. English majors are given so many reading and writing assignments for classes, that sometimes they don’t want to continue reading and writing in their personal time. It’s not that they don’t enjoy it anymore, it’s that they get their fill with their homework, and want to do other things. After learning time management, however, you get to start having that personal one-on-one time with a good novel again.
You will realize yourself that you don’t know everything about writing, or analyzing literature.
This happens in everyone’s life, especially English majors. You come from high school being the, or close to the best in your classes. When you get to college, everyone else seems just as good as you are. Some of them are even better. College is a learning experience, and realizing that you have no reason to be arrogant over your writing is the first step to begin improving your skills.
