Students darting across the street with their notebooks and textbooks shoved into their backpacks, coffee in hand, rushing to make it into their first class on time, it clear to see that school is back in session. As the Fall semester begins, students prepare for what is sure to be an interesting semester. Each major comes with its own significant lifestyle apart from the typical student lifestyle. For English majors, this is no exception. Contrary to popular belief, English majors do not have some luxurious lifestyle of sitting around all day reading their favorite novel and then sitting in class having simple discussions about the theme of the novel. Here are just a few things that represent the lifestyles of an English major.

1. "You're an English Major, so does that mean you want to teach?"

Now that school is back in session, meeting new people throughout campus is obviously going to happen. As part of the small talk, discussing majors is going to come up. With that, English majors are inherently going to be asked if they want to teach; as if the only option for an English major is to teach. There is nothing wrong with teaching; however, as an English major, there are more job opportunities besides teaching. Some of us may go on to law school, become publishers, account managers and so forth. Teaching is just one path to take with an English degree.

2. We rarely buy textbooks

Personally, I see this as a major plus. While most majors require a $200+ textbook, most of our books are found at Barnes and Noble for around $10. There are the occasional books that cause the hardship of spending approximately $50, but for the most part we stock up on novels, only adding to our lovely collection of books on our shelves.

3. We make reading plans rather than study guides

Taking multiple English courses means juggling at times four novels at once. While others are out making study guides to help memorize historical time periods, psychological disorders, mathematical equations, or some elements chemical makeup, English majors are devising a reading plan in order to stay on top of things. Trying to comprehend Shakespeare, Emerson, Conrad or Hawthorne presents its own problems; however, doing so simultaneously creates an even greater problem. So, we break down chapters, sonnets, and pages for each book in order to ensure we are prepared for class discussions, essays, quizzes, or whatever else the professors may throw our way. Sure we may need to study key concepts, definitions and other pertinent information; but, the bulk of our work comes from reading our novels. Thus, it is important to come up with a reading plan that best suits us and our schedules.

4. Essays will make or break you.

While many classes are dependent upon a plethora or quizzes, homework assignments, midterm exam, and the final exam, English majors find that the majority percentage of their grades come from the final essay. More than once, a final paper has been worth more than 40 percent of the final grade. As an English major writing a paper is inevitable, but the prospect that one single paper could be the determining factor of your final grade is frightening. For an English major, we have come to expect such a thing, and work all semester to ensure we have set ourselves up to write the best paper we can. Making notes throughout each novel of quotations we could use, highlighting important scenes, and taking notes in class on significant themes, is how we prepare for finals (by finals I mean the final paper). Most majors work all semester to build up to the final exam, but most English courses you will find that a final paper is the equivalent of such an exam. So be prepared to work all semester to wait for that final grade to pop up, that will surely make or break you.

5. We love to read!

I spend nights lying awake reading Shakespearian sonnets, Flannery O'Connor stories, Alice Walker novels, medieval literature or anything else I find on my syllabus. The thing is, that I thrive when reading. As an English major, we get the thrill of being sent into another world, another time, and another character. We read into all aspects of the words on the pages and spend nights trying to paraphrase the literature before us. The excitement some find in solving a Calculus problem or acing a Biochemistry exam comes to us in the form of finally understanding what in the world James Joyce was trying to say in the 300 pages of his novel.

So, the lifestyles of most college students are fairly similar; however, for English majors the lifestyle presents intriguing differences.