Being an English major is easy for some and hard for others. But what people might not realize is we literally signed up to have this as our major. We enjoy it (for the most part)! These are some things a lot of us hear when we say, "Oh, yeah I'm an English major."
1. Oh my gosh, I could never.
Exactly. That's why you're not.
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2. So you really like writing?
This isn't always true, but for me it is. It just comes naturally for some people.
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3. You must spend all of your time reading.
Ummm, that's not a bad thing.
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4. Do you want to be a teacher?
NO I don't. That shouldn't be an immediate assumption, though a lot of English majors do want to be teachers. I don't. I will never be. That's not me. Come on. Really.
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5. You must really like poetry, huh?
False. I hate poetry. I avoid the poetry classes like the plague. If I never take another poetry class for the rest of my life, it will be too soon.
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6. If you aren't going to teach, what can you even do with an English major?
A lot of things, actually. My uncle is an English major and he's now a lawyer. My father is an English major and he's a cyber security computer scientist. I'm an English major and I plan on being a project manager.
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7. You must have like 50 papers due a week.
I have only turned in one paper, and it's nearly October.
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8. So are you like... artsy?
What? No. There is really no need to be "artsy" when writing a paper or reading a book. Sometimes presentations require artistry to make things interesting, but other than that, not really. Though to be a good writer, you must have a creative mind.
9. Do you like reading and writing all the time?
That's not all we do, although that is common in English courses. So yes. Why would we major in something we hate?
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So you see, the English major isn't all bad and shouldn't be full of automatic assumptions! People that are English majors go on to do some pretty cool things that aren't necessarily confined to writing for a newspaper or magazine, being a teacher of some sort, or trying to write novels. If you minor in anything with an English major, you can easily use the classes from your minor to strive for multiple career opportunities combined with your major. It's not all bad! Keep an open mind!
Share if you agree or if you're an English major that has heard any of these nine things!
