Being an English major is great, I mean really really great. You get to read amazing literature and write and talk about books all the time and if, like me, that’s the sort of thing you’re into, it’s pretty much the best. English classes are great and you can learn so much about the world through literature of all genres and styles, however, there are definitely some things you get so used to (and maybe a little sick of) once you claim this as part of your identity.
1. People will ask you all the time if you want to be a teacher.
There is nothing wrong with being a teacher, it is an amazing profession, and yeah many English majors do go on to be teachers, but it’s not the only option. Plus there’s really no right way to answer this question: if you say yes, you fit right into the cliché, and if you say no, you have to handle the next dreaded question.
2. You’re going to get a lot of practice making up sassy replies to: Well, what are you going to do with your life?
I don’t know, maybe anything I want? People just don’t seem to get that there’s a lot of value in studying writing and reading and that your options are not limited to teaching.
3. You are expected to go to grad school.
Again, why does this seem like the only option? Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll work a bit and then go.
4. Friends will always ask you to edit papers, resumes, and everything else for them.
For the record, I love editing papers and whatever else people want to send my way. However, I have my own life and my own work and just because I am an English major, does not mean I am your new editing machine.
5. You will at some point find yourself in an English class that is so out of your league.
English is a way broader subject than it may seem and with all the material covered, chances are something somewhere along the way will make no sense to you. I for one am so not a poetry person. Analyzing poetry or writing it, I will struggle and it won’t be pretty.
6. When you make any common grammatical mistake, people will notice and they will call you out.
Aren’t you an English major or something? You should know this!
7. Non-English majors just don’t understand the struggle of coming up with stories.
Whether fictional or real, it’s just not as simple as it seems and the stakes always seem much higher in a creative writing class.
8. You will often find yourself trying to compare English to other majors, when in reality, that’s just a pointless conversation.
Oh, you’re taking six classes this semester for your engineering degree? Well, I had to write a short story this week and I was up super late, and could you even do that? Yeah, this is really not a road you want to go down. It’s not going anywhere and you only end up looking like a jerk.
9. Your parents may worry once in awhile about you living on their couch post-grad (or forever).
They clearly just don’t see all your potential.
10. You tend to walk around carrying no less than five books at any given time.
And usually a couple of notebooks as well. Just in case.
11. Nobody quite feels the way you do about books and bookstores.
And when you find someone who does you should probably befriend them and never let them go.
