Recently, I've been talking with a friend of mine who was an English major while she was in college, and the similarities between us. Well, the things she was saying connected to me on a spiritual level. Like an 'oh my god, are you my soulmate' level. It was after that that I began my little experiment with my other English major friends. What I found was that picking the same major makes us all similar in our own unique little ways.
1. You've got a dry sense of humor.
My humor is literally so dry you could light a fire with it, most of my little laughs are fake. Unless you get my dying silent seal laugh. That's 100 percent genuine.
2. You hate or are awful at small talk.
I'm use to debating a character's morality/sexuality/merit to the story. Ask me to find the thesis in an essay or about the sexism in "The Sun Also Rises," but for God's sake, please don't ask me about the weather.
3. You have more books than shoes.
I'm not even slightly exaggerating. My book shelf is nearly bending beneath the weight and it doesn't even hold all of my books.
4. It's hard to explain things to people.
When I speak with other English majors or other book enthusiasts, they just get things. There's this unspoken language of emotions that we tend to verbalize that most understand. I can't explain to a math major why "Going After Cacciato" broke my soul without some wounded animal sounds.
5. You dress like a homeless person 90 percent of the week.
It's not that we don't like to dress up, but that outfit I put out the night before in an effort to look nice was completely ignored when I got up half an hour late after staying up late to finish a book. No shame.
6. No matter how much you read, it's not enough.
I could finish a book a day for the rest of my life and I'd still be disappointed in myself.
7. You look at the world a little bit differently.
Based on your choice of books, you've developed a certain filter through which you look at everyone and everything. If you like Jane Austen, you're probably an incurable romantic; if you're a Hemingway fan, you're a skeptic. The books we read and enjoy have molded and shaped us into who we are, just as much as any person has.
8. Your spelling is awful.
You can remember the correct your, you're and their, there, they're. but you need a dictionary for just about everything else. We aren't "Spelling Majors" after all. And we aren't perfect with everything that is words, but we like to pretend we are.
So, fellow English majors, how much alike are we?
