Being an English major is interesting, but it comes with a special set of pains. We decipher everything from Beowulf, to Shakespeare, to famous poetry, and we know all about studying every word an author writes. We can juggle insane amounts of reading, and write a paper half-asleep fueled entirely on energy drinks. While we are dedicated to what we do, it's not without its problems.
1. The reading load
All English majors can tell you about the vast amount of reading we have to do. From books, poems, essays, articles, and short stories, we usually have several things to read each week, if not each night. We're masters at skimming and summarizing. And even though we'll never admit it, we turn to Sparknotes a lot more than we should when we can't figure out what that 13th-century poet is saying.
2. The papers never end.
As I'm writing this article, I have a five-page paper and two short stories due tomorrow, neither of which I've started. Teachers are forever telling us not to leave things until the last minute, yet we do... and we frequently get good grades. Being able to BS a paper is a special skill we've acquired. We also get very good at writing quickly and under all sorts of conditions. I've known people to type entire papers on their phones.
3. Juggling teachers' expectations
When multiple English classes are being taken at once, it can get tricky to balance what each one is looking for. Different professor's look for and grade different things in their work and papers. I've had professors who have hated things that others have loved. There's also no way to tell at first how hard a prof is going to review or what sort of analysis they like. It's all a gamble until you figure out their teaching style.
4. Lack of creativity
This is geared more towards those with a creative-writing focus, but it can apply to the whole major. Coming up with new topics and ideas for poems and stories can quickly burn through any reserves you may have had. I've had to write a poem a week since September, and I've even written about writers' block when I've been scarce for topics. It's hard to constantly have a flow of ideas.
Despite everything, I love my major and what comes along with it. Reading has always been a favorite hobby, and being able to do it for a living will be great. It's setting me up for my future, and helping me to be better at what I want to do. We fight through the terrible grammar studies and boring analysis because at the end of the day, English is a good major and we care about it. There's almost nothing else I'd rather do.
