As an English major, I get asked the same questions over and over. It is easy for people to assume that all English majors eventually become teachers, and that there are no other careers out there for someone studying English. For an English major, life can become literature, and it's just as stressful and difficult as any other concentration. We get asked the same questions, and face the same stereotypes everyday, just to name a few...
1. “So, you want to be a teacher?
Teaching
is not for everyone, and just because I’m an English major doesn’t
automatically mean I’ll be a teacher. A lot of English majors do pursue
teaching, but some of us studying English for other reasons.
2. “Do you like to read?”
Um, yes? We love books. Generally, you don’t major in English if you don’t love books. 3. “So what are your plans for the future, if you’re not teaching?”
I’m still figuring things out, and that’s OK. However, a lot of us do have plans and that’s awesome too.
4. “What is your plan B?”
Do I have to have a plan B? What’s wrong with plan A?
5. “How do you plan to pay off your student loans?”
The money tree always grows somewhere. The last thing we want to hear is how you think we won’t make enough money to pay off our loans, bills, or other payments.
6. “What are you going to do with an English degree?”
There’s actually a lot you can do with an English degree. Reporting, editing, and newscasting are just a few examples. Several books have been written about it.
7. “Can you edit my papers for me?”
Ugh, yes. I will enjoy every minute of it, but yes. However, not every English major likes to edit papers, or write -- for that matter.
8. “Are you going to write a book?”
Some of us want to, and some of us don’t. Some of us write creatively, and some of us don’t.
9. “Are you going to be correcting my grammar all the time?”
No, surprisingly enough grammar can be difficult for everyone. We don’t sit around and plot our next grammar-Nazi strike, but a very poorly edited text message might give us a headache.
10. “Do you read a lot of Shakespeare?”
Yes, some of us do. No, some of us don’t. Just because Shaky wrote a lot of great literature, doesn’t mean we obsessively read his works.
11. “Are you going to make any money at all?”
See question 5.
12. “What’s your favorite coffee shop?”
Okay, I love coffee, but not all of us sit around reading books in coffee shops all day. Wait -- why don’t we do that again? That sounds heavenly.
13. “Isn’t English the language we speak?”
Oh boy, don’t get me started.
14. “What’s your minor? Is your minor something practical?”
Why isn’t English a practical major? No, but no matter what our minor is, we can still do so much with an English major.
15. “What do you do in class?”
People seem to assume that English majors are lazy. Yes, we read books and vividly hallucinate for hours on end, but you would not believe how much work goes into the 8 page papers we write. In class, reading and writing is work.
16. “What’s your favorite book?”
Finally, a question I’d love to answer, but how many hours do you have?
