Being an English major can be extremely interesting and insightful. We have the chance to analyze works from varying periods of time, genres, and cultures. While we are proud of the path we've decided to take, there are people who are often very critical and they often say the very same things.

1. “Do you want to be a teacher?”

Believe it or not, not all English majors want to be teachers. In fact, you can pretty much do anything with an English degree. The author of this article even prefers to hire English majors over business majors. Steve Strauss states, “They know how to think, to think for themselves, and how to analyze a problem. Business majors are fine, but they are preoccupied with theory, proving themselves, and doing it 'right.' But the English majors are used to getting a tough assignment, figuring it out, and getting it done, (usually) on time.”

2. “You must love writing papers.”

Just because our major involves a ton of writing, does not mean that we always enjoy sitting down to write a six-page paper. We procrastinate and wish we could be doing a million other things just like any other person.

3. “What are you going to do with an English Degree?”

Well, we can pretty much do anything we desire to do. There are English majors in pretty much every field. In fact, celebrities such as Emma Watson, James Franco, and Joan Rivers all have English degrees.

4. “Your parents must really love that.”

As a fellow English major once said, “Good thing they’re not the ones doing it.” Our parents are just as proud as your parents. It’s not like we’re peddling drugs.

5. “I wish I could do something like that.” (Sarcastically)

Being an English major is no walk in the park. Reading the required readings before each class can be extremely time-consuming and it takes a lot of thought and analysis to understand a text’s underlying meaning. Tackling "Paradise Lost" is no easy feat.

6. “You must read a lot.” “How many books have you read?”

Just because we are English majors does not mean we spend every spare minute of the day reading (though most of us do enjoy picking up a book for recreational purposes now and then — Mostly when the amount of class reading permits us to do so). Oh, and by the way, we've all read at least one book.

7. “How have you not read this? you’re an English major?”

There are so so so many books on this Earth that there is no way we could have read every single one of them. Plus, we are not obligated to like every single book or author that we read. I don’t remember that being a prerequisite.

8. “Can I pay you to write my paper?”

You most certainly cannot because we will not be writing it for you. While you may have one paper due next week, our schedule is packed with at least two.

9. “Are you going to write a book?” “You should write a book.”

English majors are in no way obligated to write a book. It's not easy to sit and crank out 500 pages to create the next great American novel.