It is automatically assumed when I tell people, especially older generations, that I am majoring in English that I want to teach or write creatively. Or I am asked, "Well what are you planning to do with that? No-one buys books anymore."
I am majoring in English because I love literature and enjoying being good at grammar. None of the classes that are required for my major involve teaching or writing creatively. Yes, I have those options. No, that is not my career path.
For once I would love to be seriously asked what is my major then have someone truly interested in where my career path is going with majoring in English instead of them automatically assuming what I am planning to do in the future or give me a nice, but condescending comment about my degree.
Here are five myths about being an English major:1. I want to be an teacher or be an author.
There are so many career paths you can take being an English major. You can go into the publishing field, do undergraduate or graduate research, work in journalism or public relations, be a newspaper reporter, feature, technical or grant writing and the list goes on. I want to be a copy editor at a publishing firm working with novels. Just with this path alone, I can literally work at any company that needs copy editing or general editing work. For example, I can be a technical writer and edit manuals. Even airlines need copy editors. I can work for any establishment that has a newsletter. I can work with a Christian company that does devotionals since those need to be edited as well. The list goes on and on.
2. I love to write.
I don't enjoy writing creatively at all. I don't have any creative bones in me. I don't spend my free time writing a novel I one day want to publish. Although, I can write formulated, structured essays. I appreciate writing critical and research essays only because I write them well, which is what I am in college to study.
3. I have my nose constantly stuck in a book.
Yes, you will most likely see me around campus reading. Any reading I do in college has been all for class. When you have 10 books assigned for one class and are taking five English classes, the reading load is very heavy. So when I'm on campus reading before or in-between classes, it is because I am very behind. Otherwise, I spend my free time watching Netflix or chilling with my friends. I can't remember the last time I read a book for fun. It's not like teen movies when the nerd who loves to read is never paying attention to her friends and is reading a book a lunch. It's truly the complete opposite for English majors. We majorly procrastinate having to read for class and will usually do it right before class time.
4. I am a total grammar Nazi who is constantly belittling people.
I really love grammar and sentence structures purely educationally wise. I wish to do it as my career and professionally, but outside of work and school, it's on the back burner. Just because I write very formally for class, it does not mean I am the exact same way texting my friends. It's actually the complete opposite. My grammar and spelling are just as bad as everyone else's. I totally rely on autocorrect.
5. All English majors want all to follow the same path and career.
This is the least true thing about being an English major. I can be in a class with all English majors and maybe only have two people who want to do the exact same thing with their degree. Students are English majors for different reasons with various goals, and like myth number 1, there's so much an individual can do with this degree. The major itself is separated into four tracks: general, intensive, writing concentrated and secondary education.
Most people assume being an English major is easy due to everyone speaking English and taking it every year in school. This is not the case.
My schoolwork load is very heavy. I have entire books read, which is very time-consuming, before even being able to complete assignments or do simple classwork quizzes. Essays, also, take a lot of time and need to be carefully crafted. However, I picked a major I truly love and consider myself to excel at.
I have learned so much about literature, grammar and even society. I wouldn't change my major at all.
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