When I was an undergraduate and I told people what my major was — English — the three most common questions I got were:
“Are you going to be an English teacher?”
“What kind of jobs can you get with that?”
“Is that an easy major?”
My answer to that would be:
"No, I don’t want to be a teacher, even though I am quite good at it."
"I can get any kind of job I want."
"If someone else dares to assume analyzing Old English Beowulf and writing ten-page essays is easy again, I will throat-punch them."
I know the current job market demands more of business management, but English degrees are not worthless.
First of all, those who studied English in college know how to write and have a large vocabulary. I know many of you assume writing is simple, but it isn't. You need to be able to explain yourself fluently, even if it is just writing a memo. Besides, if you were a potential employee or customer reading an organization’s pamphlet or website, would you want to be involved with them if they couldn’t put two words together?
English majors also know how to think critically and logically. Their minds go through a step-by-step process in order to get the job done and get it done right. In their college courses, they are introduced to different ideas and theories and then are encouraged to form their own opinions. They are taught to read between the lines, as well as think out of the box. They don’t go with the norm; they create it.
Researching is a valuable tool to any organization. To keep up with the competition, you have to stay in touch with present trends, rates, or whatever the company specializes in. English majors spend the majority of their undergraduate careers researching for their different literature courses, so they’re proficient at it. They know where to look when it comes to finding what they’re looking for.
Reading is another overlooked skill. Not only does reading books, fiction or nonfiction, improve your general vocabulary, it also leads to a greater amount of empathy. When you read fiction, you are put into the minds of the characters you are reading. You experience it the same time they do. Empathy is as important in the workplace to actually know what you are doing when you go to work every day. You are dealing with other human beings, whether it is your boss, your co-workers, or the customers.
In my senior year of college, weeks before my own graduation, I was working with a freshman at the library. She was undecided and struggling to choose what kind of major she wanted to study. I told her I was an English major; her response was: “What kind of jobs can you get with that?”
If there is any advice I can give to college students, it would be to study what you love, not something you think is “practical” or one that you think will secure you a job right after graduation. Nothing is guaranteed. Yes, getting your Bachelor’s degree gives you a better shot at a stable income than someone with only a high school diploma, but college is so much more than that. It is about growing as a person, discovering your passion, and going after it. I will never regret my decision to study English, the one thing I loved most, because it helped me get on the path I am supposed to be on and to the person I am today.
To those of you just starting out and choosing to study English: if you love what you are learning, keep at it. You will face negativity from all sides but if it’s important to you, it shouldn’t matter.
Look at it this way: they are taking the easy way out by choosing majors that will secure them careers that promise nice houses and cars. English majors take the hard road and we prosper because of it. We are not afraid of the obstacles standing before us…because it gives us something to write about later.
Keep reading, keep writing, keep learning, and never, ever surrender to the “practical.”
