English majors get made fun of for choosing an "easy major" and catch a lot of flak for it. Here are ten things that English Majors are sick of hearing.
1. What can you do with that other than teaching?
Well, business, education, many people who go to med school or law school have degrees in English. There's also writing, publishing/editing, law enforcement, politics and an almost endless list of job sectors that English majors can join.
2. Oh, you chose an easy major.
Yeah, okay, Sharon. The "easy major". Honey, any English major will tell you we love reading and writing, but these essays are brutal. Plus, I don't know about your university, but here in the UNC Charlotte English Department, they don't just offer an English B. A., they offer different concentrations such as "Literature and Culture", "Creative Writing", "Pedagogy", "Teacher Licensure", and "Language and Digital Technology" (which is your girls' concentration). Plus we have awesome minors which include, "Linguistics" (my minor), "English", "Children's Literature and Childhood Minor", "Diverse Literature and Cultural Studies", and "Technical/Professional Writing". There are many different avenues that you can take and it was definitely not an easy major!
3. It must be fun reading novels for homework
Yep! Until I have to analyze every possible symbolic meaning and read Chaucer in Old English, not the translations, but the original Chaucer. But again, my concentration is in Language and Digital Technology and Linguistics. I study how people use language, English specifically, to communicate with each other interpersonally and digitally and how language changes over time.
4. So could you not settle on a major?
No, I could. I wanted to be a nurse, but that involved too much math and science for me. I was originally an education major, but that would take a biology class and a year longer than the English major (which I am totally in love with by the way). But I've also always been interested in editing or copywriting. Although, the ultimate dream is to have some of my work published.
5. Aren't you worried you won't make money?
Uh, no? I'm pretty sure I can get a job that pays. Fast food pays, retail pays, you see where I'm going with this? I'm more worried about getting insurance before I'm 26 so that I can afford to get my gastro and asthma meds. Especially since I'll be 25 when I graduate.
6. Aren't you worried about employers not taking you seriously?
If there were a YouTube video of me doing the cinnamon challenge or tide pod challenge, then absolutely. But, the associate's degree that I earned and now the bachelor's degree that has taught me to communicate concisely verbally and on paper, taught me to understand communication and language, along with my resume, the answer to that is no, no I'm not worried about an employer taking me seriously. Especially since English majors are employed in a wide variety of job sectors. But thanks for your concern.
7. What if you end up doing education because you couldn't do anything else?
Well, first things first. Thanks for the vote of confidence you Negative Nancy you! My answer is great! It was one of the things that I wanted to do anyway. I love literature and would be stoked to teach a British Lit class and have an excuse to fangirl over Austen, Dickens, and hopefully, see how they relate the plotlines from the stories to today's society.
8. But how would your degree be useful?
To be honest most companies would benefit from English majors. We write well, we communicate well, we have great story-telling backgrounds that could benefit in a marketing area and that can help open your business to a variety of new audiences, and we are taught to "read between the lines".
9. But you need connections for editing and publishing, will you just do freelance? That's not a very stable job.
Okay, Carol. Go Google and come back so we can talk. Connections in any job you want are helpful. Portfolios, a good resume, and a decent interview for a job that you qualify for will also help me earn a job.
10. You don't think that this will help you become a famous writer do you?
Okay, um, no. Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely love to have my play produced or the book that I have been working on for years, or the movie I have been working on for two years now. But I'm under no illusion that this will only help me with the theory of writing and communication and not the actual marketing of it. I'm also well aware, as we all are, that this would not shoot us straight into the throws of fame. Heck who said that all English majors want to do is write anyways?