I'll be honest, there's a decently sized part of me that dreads telling people I'm an English major.

Normally when people announce their majors, they get the question: “What are you going to do with that?” That glorious question opens up so many doorways for conversations; I’ve heard a math major say they want to be a rocket scientist, and I’ve heard of foreign language majors aiming to be diplomats.

Then there’s me.

I tell people I’m an English major and I get: “So you want to be a teacher.” No question, just a blanket statement that, for some reason, managed to award “English major” with the synonym “teacher.”

I’ve always been curious as to why that connotation is the most prevalent; I’ve never understood why all the other career paths for English majors get pushed aside. I remember telling a college professor I wanted to be an English major but not a teacher and she told me, “That is so brave of you.”

Wait, what? As far as I’m aware, picking the major that you want doesn’t constitute as bravery.

If anyone were to Google a list of brave acts, picking your college major would be so far down at the bottom, it wouldn’t even be listed.

Choosing this major happened because it involves what I’m most passionate about - writing.

I started writing stories in elementary school, and they were the shortest stories ever and so obviously written by a fourth grader with no genuine grasp of sentence structure or dialogue.

By sophomore year of high school, I stumbled on a writing website designed for teens. This was the first place where my writing was officially published (though, I have to admit those stories were written during an embarrassing period of teenage angst and should probably never see the light of day again). Still, just getting those emails congratulating me on having my work approved for publishing filled me with inexplicable joy and pushed me to keep writing.

Even after telling people about my writing successes, they still proclaim I must want to be a teacher the minute the words, “I’m an English major” leave my lips.

If I wanted to be a teacher, don’t you think I’d be an education major?

It’s disheartening to not even be asked what I plan to do with my degree. It’s almost like a piece of my identity is being wiped away every time a conclusion is jumped to.

By this point, I’m a little wary of revealing my college plans to anyone. Having to constantly correct people about my plans and then receiving a look that practically screams, “Well, that sounds nice but you’d be better off getting a stable job as a teacher” has gotten really old really quick.

Honestly, I’m not asking for much here. I’d just like to have people stop assuming all English majors want to be teachers. Instead of asking me “What grade do you want to teach?” ask me, “What are your plans after getting your degree?”

And if there’s an English major who responds that they want to be a teacher, great. Let us tell you our plans for our futures instead of the other way around. Don’t typecast us into a career, please?