Any English major will tell you that they receive multiple doubts from others about their major. “What do you even want to do with that?” “Are there even any jobs available besides teaching?” “Ew- I can’t believe you like to write.” Yes, I am a writing major and yes, writing is my passion.
Writing is the best thing in the world for us non-verbal communicators. Speaking in public, or even talking in general is just not our forte. However, give us a pen and paper and we can write for hours. Putting our thoughts on paper come so much more naturally than saying them out loud. We can control how and what we say, opposed to talking and having to know exactly what to say on the spot. At the end of the day, getting your feelings down on paper is healing to the soul. You don’t feel as though everything is bottled up inside you and you had a chance to let everything out. While many people prefer to talk to someone about issues, getting everything written down makes me feel ten times better.
Another big question I get a lot is “So you want to be an author and write books then?” I usually just laugh. Not all English majors want to be best-selling authors. In fact, our generation especially struggles so much with writing, that professional writers are currently in very high demand. Think about the description of your cool new shoes on Nike, or the millions of answers to the questions you type in on Google. Someone had to write those and make them understandable to you.
Not only do you get to write tons of cool stuff, you also get to read some awesome literature (super nerdy I know). You get to explore the world of English and read texts from thousands of years ago. Being able to say you read and understood a Shakespearian play is pretty impressive if you ask me. Having a little bit of a literature background is so cool and unique. It makes you feel very scholarly.
Your fellow English majors are the best people on campus. You all have the same quirky interest in writing and literature and get to share crazy ideas with each other. You take all the same classes so you’re basically best friends all four years of undergrad school. You have immediate essay editors and brainstorming partners to help you get through those 20-page papers.
Yes, being an English major is a little out of the ordinary. But, it has given me the best college experience so far and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
