Being an English major is an adventure in academics. Over the years, I’ve heard so many mixed reactions to my major that I’m not sure anything would amaze me at this point. Not surprisingly, most of the reactions can be categorized under one of two options: “Wow that’s awesome” or “You’re insane.” There are a couple that fall in between the categories, but those are few and far apart. Some are heard so often, that to save time here are the simple answers to four of them:
“Wow! That’s awesome! I could never do all that writing!”
Yes, it’s awesome, and the writing doesn’t feel like all that much most of the time. Probably because most English majors enjoy writing. That’s one of the reasons we chose this major, because we get to write. That’s also probably why you aren’t an English major, the writing is boring to you and therefore, you don’t like it.
“What can you do with that degree?”
Well, there are a lot of things you can do with an English degree. For one thing, you could do as I plan to and write books, or you could be like my classmate and become a playwright. Teaching is a popular option because every level of education needs English instructors and there are countless opportunities to go overseas to teach English as a language. You can go to Hollywood and write scripts, become a poet, songwriter or engage in any number of creative and writing-centered careers that exist. Even if writing isn’t your passion, you gain editing skills so there’s the chance to work in a publishing house as an editor or for a magazine, newspaper, website, etc. English as a major is often over-looked and laughed at, but as long as the world reads, we will be needed.
“Make me a character in your book!”
First off: no. Second: do you realize how difficult and stressful it is to use real people as a basis for a fictional character? Whenever you write something based off of someone, your truest thoughts on that person come to light. When or if they read what you’ve written on them, they will know and understand what you think of them better than they ever could from any conversation. People talk about coming clean with feelings, but no one is ready to read a character based off of them. Third: what gives you the right to ask that of me? I mean I understand the urge to ask, people don’t think in terms of the things mentioned in the second part of this answer, so it’s really tempting to see what you would be turned into. Unless you are a family member or an extremely good friend of the author, don’t ask. We’ll ask if we decide to add you, and then jump all over the chance if you want. But if you make the first move here, we might just write a murder mystery just to make you the last victim of Jack the Ripper.
“Why did you decide to do this to yourself?”
I want to address the phrasing of this reaction because more often than not this is a common tone of voice. I’m not hurting myself, I didn’t do anything bad to myself; like I said with answer one, I enjoy this and I chose this. I’ve found that the reasons behind choosing English as a major are as varied as the people in the program. Personally, I chose this major because I love to create things, and writing is my favorite medium. I grew up on stories, and I want to make stories for the next generation. That’s the simplest way I can explain it.
