Being an English major is not as romantic or glamorous as it might seem. It is also not the worst decision or "easy way out" as some people would like to label it. If you know an English major, do not ask them if they "want to teach". Fun fact: there is more to an English degree than teaching. Recently I was at an Adele concert (omg right?! I know, she was amazing), and I could not help but think that while her songs are about heartache and love, they could also be applied to the life of an English major. Starting from the decision to be an English major to the final days of undergrad, Adele describes it all.

1. One and Only

"You've been on my mind, I grow fonder every day, lose myself in time just thinking of your face. God only knows, why it's taken me so long to let my doubts go, you're the only one that I want."

For many English majors, the decision to be one is rooted in something more romantic and meaningful than just having the ability to write well. While there are many of us that do have some specific goal in mind, most of us major in English to feed a creative side of our brains that would be neglected in any other degree program. For me and a lot of my fellow undergrads, being an English major is something that might not be exactly what our parents had in mind for us, but we know it is the right fit for us. Some of us might have tried our hand at a different major (three other majors in my case), but always come back to English. It is our one and only, where we belong.

2. Chasing Pavements

"Should I give up? Or should I just keep chasing' pavements? Even if it leads nowhere? Or would it be a waste, even if I knew my place? Should I leave it there? Should I give up? Or should I just keep chasing' pavements, even if it leads nowhere?"

I could almost guarantee that around the second year of being an English major, a majority of us students ask ourselves a line of questioning similar to the ones above that Adele asks. These questions are usually sparked by the thoughts brought on by the questions being asked of us by friends and families. Things like: "what are you going to do with an English degree?" or "You know that isn't a real degree?", or all of our personal favorites: "Are you going to teach?". More often than not, we have no earthly idea what we want to do with our degree. We know we are creatively inclined not to be a scientist, and we want to see where the world will take us. Like I said before, there are some English majors that know exactly what the next step is, but for a lot of us, we really do not know. For me, it's the unknown, the uncertainty of an English degree that I really appreciate. When I get my degree there will be a litany of careers and "next steps" for me to choose from. I won't have spent four years trying to become a doctor only to learn I hate everything about it. I will have choices, options; I will be able to try a job on and if I hate it move on to something else. No, I do not want to teach, but that doesn't mean I'm screwed. We like chasing pavements, because to us it's the chase we want.

3. Rolling in the Deep

"You're gonna wish you, never have met me. Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep."

I like to imagine that the above quote is what English is saying to us somewhere dead in the middle of getting our degree. Somewhere when you are being force fed Shakespearean sonnets and 16th century literature. When you've taken all the fun Harry Potter classes and creative writing seminars and suddenly find yourself in advanced grammar because your college wants you to be well rounded *insert eye-rolling emoji here*. It's the time when the English degree bites back. When all your friends are studying and you have six papers to write. It's the moment after your Grandmother gives you another lecture on how bad of a decision majoring in English is and for a moment you begin to believe her. Somewhere around the time you have to figure out what TF John Keats is talking about in Ode to a Grecian Urn and decipher what exactly the Federalist were angry about when they wrote The Federalist Papers (you know, other than wanting freedom for America, they had some other complaints and we have to know them all). Tears will fall, and we all have to learn how to type through them and not let them blur our outlines.

4. Send My Love (To Your New Lover)

"Send my love to your new lover, treat her better. We've gotta let go of all of our ghosts, we both know we ain't kids no more."

Following directly after the Rolling in the Deep phase comes this one. For me, this was junior year. When I was finally faced with deciding what I wanted to do with my degree. When my mom wouldn't take "IDK" as answer anymore. When I realized that I being like Carrie Bradshaw on Sex in the City wasn't a real career and that I would be very poor and probably not that successful if I just moved to New York to write. It was when my parents had LSAT (test for law school) study books mailed to my apartment and left grad school applications on my bed to come home on breaks. That is when I thought "Way to go Lauren! Way to follow your heart straight into poverty". I asked myself so many times "What was I thinking?!" and then I would remember why I went down this path to begin with. The freedom, the journey, it was just beginning.

5. Hello

"Hello from the other side."

Hello, it's us, the English majors. Hello, we're now your lawyer, your accountant, your news, your how to guide. Hello, it's us, the people who helped you write all your college essays, the people you text when you don't know where a comma goes. Hello, how are you? We're in California dreaming of new plot lines because we're writing a hit a TV show, we hope you're well. Hello from CNN, we're here because we specialized in government writing and need to tell you that the bill you just voted for is actually complete shit. Hello, we were and are English majors: and we are really freakin' awesome.