Anyone who is not an English major will never understand why we love it, but we do. The paper writing, the excessive reading: what seems like torture to a biology major is wonderful to us. Here are some signs you are an English major and loving your college experience because of it.
1. You love writing papers.
Probably one of the best parts of being an English major is having mostly final papers instead of final exams. They are usually no problem, and you can write one after another. You don't understand when your friends in other majors complain about having a paper to write, because it's literally the easiest kind of assignment to you. Whether it is a research paper, a story, or just an essay, it comes totally natural to you.
2. You love reading.
You have most likely been a bookworm since you first learned to read; I know I was. We had a reading log in kindergarten, and over the course of the year, I read more a hundred books -- more than all of my other classmates. Which completely foreshadowed who I would become... an English major.
3. Math, science, and other STEM subjects do not come naturally to you.
You don't understand why your STEM major friends don't like reading and writing, but they don't understand why you don't prefer to subject yourself to the torture chamber that is the science building for endless labs and research. Chemistry, statistics, calculus, and engineering are foreign languages.You hated taking your basic STEM requirements. And the more numbers there are, the less inclined you are to get anywhere near it.
4. You overanalyze every real-life situation like you would analyze literature.
For example, the new red dress your friend bought clearly represents her hidden anger and her desire for control. And she thought she only bought it because it was cute and on sale. Ha! You totally know what it means. It's just like what you read in that short story the other day.
5. You hate when you want to tweet something but your post is 141 characters and you must commit a grammatical sin.
Do you leave out the apostrophe, the comma, use texting acronyms, or just spell a word wrong? All of them are equally bad. Just save it in your drafts and stress over it another day.
6. You know the proper uses of you're, you're, their, there, and they're.
And it drives you nuts on social media when the general populous has no idea how to use these. It seems like common sense to you. I mean, it's like nobody paid attention in elementary school.
6. You are commonly called a "grammar Nazi."
You are the one constantly commenting "*you're" on people's Facebook. When you argue with someone on social media, you start correcting their grammar, not to make them mad, but because it genuinely bothers you. Even if you don't use proper grammar.
7. While everyone is freaking out during finals week, you are staying calm because all of your final papers were due last week anyway.
Paper are totally no big deal to you, and English professors usually assign a paper instead of an exam. So while everyone is up at 3 a.m. after drinking coffee and studying in the library all night, you are staying cool, sleeping, and enjoying this week of little work.
8. You spell everything out and use proper punctuation in text messages.
Even if you don't use proper grammar when you speak, you sure as heck are going to use it when typing or writing. For me, in middle school, I had gotten in the habit of using texting lingo and tried to actually write like that on my homework. I decided texting lingo was a bad idea, especially when typing papers.
9. You quote famous literature in your daily life.
Some of your favorite quotes come from great works of literature and writers like Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Bronte, Austen, and so many others. They say the truest things about life in such a beautiful way that you even use it in regular conversation. You can also be seen posting these quotes on Instagram and Twitter, and you always have a perfect quote for every situation.
10. You believe English is the most useful skill.
Why else would they require everyone who goes to college to have at least two English classes? The abilities to read and write well are so important, regardless of future career, and we all understand that being well-spoken can do more for you a lot of times than how many math problems you can solve.
11. You get tired of being asked "So you want to teach?"
Stop asking this. There are so many options beyond teaching for people with English degrees. Office jobs, communication jobs, law, journalism, and editing and publishing. We are not confined to teaching.
12. You love your major and you wouldn't have it any other way.
You couldn't imagine any other major you would love more than English. It is your thing, and you are loving your college experience because you get to spend every day doing what you love. The joy you get from reading and writing cannot be explained to people who don't love it the same way you do, but you can't imagine life without those things.
