If you're an English major, you know that this content area is anything but simple; there is so much more than just reading and writing involved in being a part of this major. In fact, English is a part of the Humanities and Social Sciences department in most colleges and universities, which means that English not only has to do with books - it has much to do with people. Being an English major myself, I know what this major has done for me and the skills I'll take into the real world once I graduate, and I wanted to share them with you. Here are some truths about English majors.
1. We overthink. A lot.
Even the most trivial events in our daily lives can cause to to lose our minds overthinking them. We're used to analyzing literature, which means we look deeper into things and come up with our own interpretations. We tend to start analyzing ourselves and our lives in the way that we would with the lives of characters in a novel or poem. Everything has to have some type of meaning for us - it's just a part of our nature. Overthinking can be a positive thing or a negative thing given the situation, making it a blessing and a curse.
2. We're extremely empathetic.
One of the amazing qualities that English majors are known to possess is empathy. Think about it - we put ourselves into someone else's shoes whenever we read a piece of literature (which is often), and we can easily relate ourselves to characters or authors. This skill is constantly practiced by English majors, so it's become a known truth that we are the masters of empathy. It's a wonderful thing to be able to understand and relate to people, even if some of those people are fictional characters.
3. We have a very colorful vocabulary.
English majors read various kinds of literature, and that includes Shakespeare plays, Old English works, and other really difficult texts. Some of the words that we encounter are not commonly used in everyday language, so we sound super smart when applying them to conversations. We also feel really good when explaining what certain words mean or where they came from to others. We basically become a human dictionary.
4. We become attached to books.
To explain this one, I'm going to tell you about my experience with Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I had to read this novel for a class, so I rented it from our college bookstore. And let me tell you, I totally fell in love with it. I didn't want to have to return it to the bookstore at the end of the semester; the thought of handing it over for someone else to have just wasn't okay with me. In the end, I ended up going to my own local bookstore and buying a super fancy edition of it for my bookshelf. Moral of the story: us English majors want to own the stories that we love, even if that means buying a book that we've already read.
5. Poor grammar skills annoy the living heck out of us.
We would say we're sorry about this, but we're actually not. After writing countless papers and taking courses on grammar, we treat poor grammar like it's the plague. We aren't trying to be mean or condescending if we correct you, we just want the world to be a more grammatically correct place. "Grammar Police" is a compliment to us.
6. We're great at communicating.
Since we are always sprucing up our vocabulary and relating to others, we English majors are very good at communicating with other people. In fact, when hiring new employees, most work places look for people who have good communication skills. We know how to articulate our thoughts and feelings to others, and we're extremely good at arguing our points to others as well. If you are dating an English major, you've probably had an argument or two where your significant other provided you a thesis and a few solid points as to why they're right and you're wrong, and they sounded damn smart while doing it.
7. Movies become even more enjoyable.
When you're constantly analyzing literature and looking between the lines, you often find yourself doing that with movies. English majors love watching movies (especially movies based off of things they've read) and being able to find easter eggs or notice symbols that the non-English major may not be able to pick up on. Movies become way more entertaining, and you may accidentally spoil some things for your friends. "Oh, it started to snow. Someone's probably going to die."
8. We're open minded individuals.
Just like we're good at communicating, we're also good at listening and considering other people's opinions. English classes usually consist of discussions in which the students share their interpretations with the rest of the class. You may not necessarily agree with someone else's interpretation, and that's totally okay. Sometimes, someone else's interpretation may just sway your original idea. When you're an English major, you know that you have to be respectful of others and what they have to say; the classrooms become a welcoming environment because of this, which is really cool. It's also a super useful life skill, and will help you be an overall better person.
9. We know how to escape everything for a little while.
Whether it's to de-stress, unwind, or just for pleasure, reading is known to be a favorite pastime for English majors. We love immersing ourselves into a great book and escaping our daily lives. You can be anything you want to be and go anywhere you want to go with the right book. English majors know just how important some me-time can be, and that reading is an awesome way to spend it.
10. We come face to face with some of the greats.
There's something surreal about reading directly from a famous author's text. You can get a glimpse into the mind of some of the most astounding people and it's like they're speaking to you. Sometimes we English majors become so familiar with an author that we start to feel like we know them personally. To us, reading a text from one of the greats is like meeting one of our favorite celebrities, and n becoming friends with them as we continue to read their work. "Shakespeare and I are BFFS, just so you know."
11. We're friendly!
Sometimes, English majors can come off as intimidating, especially when we are close friends with one another. However, English majors are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. We like listening to people's stories and talking to them, all the while trying to relate to them. We're understanding of what makes us all different and respect each other completely. We like to nerd out about things, and we like just about anything with a good story line, so feel free to talk to us about your favorite movies and books.
There's nothing better than feeling like you are welcomed to be yourself, so befriend an English major today!
