"It must be nice to not have so much homework all the time."
"Ugh, you're lucky you don't have to be this stressed."
"Do you even have any finals?"
"What jobs can you even get?"
"You do realize you aren't going to make a lot of money, right?"
I hear these same phrases every year. Every. Single. Year. From both peers and adults alike. And every year I get more and more pissed off.
I'm sick of people looking down on me because I have an "easy" major. My major isn't easy. It may seem easy to everyone else since I'm not constantly wanting to rip my hair out because I actually enjoy the classes I take. It may be hard, but I don't complain because I love what I'm studying. It doesn't mean I don't have an insane workload, but I just don't publicly complain about it to everyone who wants to listen.
English majors are notoriously bashed on for studying something that isn't going to give them a "real job." Do literally a five minute Google search and you'll realize how wrong you are. Some examples? Social media manager, technical writer, public relations specialist, grant writer, editors and content managers, teachers, new reporter, even a lawyer. Everyone assumes our one goal is to end up being a best-selling author. We're not dumb, we know how unlikely it is we'll be the next J. K. Rowling or Stephen King. There are jobs you can get with an English major, and high paying ones too.
It's ridiculous to me how almost every single one of my peers looks down on me for my major. I just don't understand how you can try and state on major is better than the other. Not all of us want to be STEM or business majors. Even if every single person wanted to be a STEM or business major, who's supposed to take all the other jobs you deem "unworthy?" Who's supposed to teach your kids? Who's supposed to report the news? Who's supposed to help make the movies and T.V. shows you all love so much? You think our majors are useless until you realize all the things you take for granted on a daily basis are possible because of those who major in English, Secondary Education, Journalism, Film Production, Culinary Arts, Music, etc. I'm not trying to say STEM and business majors aren't important degrees, they are of course necessary in the world we live in. I just see these two majors hate on other majors the most.
On the outside, it may not seem like my workload is hard because I don't complain or study constantly. Sure, I barely have exams, which I'm thankful for. But I average about one paper due a week, usually more, ranging anywhere from 1-10 pages. It may not seem that difficult, "oh it's just a paper," but it's more than just sitting down and writing some bullshit in 30 minutes and expecting to get a 4.0. It's reading a book three times and still not knowing how to analyze it in order to write a paper on it. Thesis statements take me an hour alone to come up with, then another three hours writing the paper, another two hours editing it, add on another hour for trying to find evidence to actually try and prove your argument. Seven hours. Seven hours for one paper. That doesn't include the time it takes to read the book.
Each English class I take ranges from requiring to read one book to nine. Reading may not seem like difficult homework until you actually see the stuff we have to not only read but analyze and actually make sense of. I can't just read a book and call it good, there's so much more going on in a text than what most people realize. If you've ever read "Lord of the Flies" you know what I'm talking about. And unlike other homework, you can't rush reading through a book. I can't wait until the last minute to read it like you could other homework, it's literally impossible. One 600 page book takes 20 hours to read, and that's being generous.
One 600 page book a week + one paper = 27 hours. That's just for one class, not including the other three English classes I have. And don't even get me started on the 30-40 page senior thesis I have to write, for which I have to read 16 books. So no, I don't have all the free time in the world. No, I'm not totally free of stress. But I love my major. I love reading, I love writing. Even though I'm insanely busy I don't care, because I'm doing something that I love.
Before you try and make other people feel small for the major they choose, understand that each major is hard in their own way. A major that may not work for you works for someone else. No major is worthless. And it's time people start understanding that.
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To Those With A Negative View Of Odyssey, Here's Why It's Worth My Time
I'm not a clickbait farm, I'm a young, aspiring writer.
Something that I will never understand is why people have to be so negative when they're online. As a writer on Odyssey, it's hard to see some of the comments that people leave on articles or on Odyssey's Facebook page. From people tearing down writers who are vulnerable enough to openly share their opinions to people downright attacking Odyssey's brand, I'm here to say that I am a writer for the Odyssey and I am proud of it.
When I first joined Odyssey, I had no idea what was in store for me. I didn't know much about the company besides the fact that I see their articles circulate on my Facebook feed. But I can say that my experience writing on Odyssey has only been positive. I have grown as a writer and have learned how to communicate, work and collaborate in a professional manner. It has taught me discipline and has encouraged me to support and value others' viewpoints.
One of the most rewarding things about Odyssey is my position. I serve as the current editor-in-chief for my community (James Madison University) and get to help each and every one of my creators establish identities and learn all the things that I did as a content creator. I learned the importance of packaging articles and get to work one-on-one with professionals who help me whenever I need or want to.
I've found writing on Odyssey a very rewarding experience, so it puzzles me why people have to be so cruel and quick to bash my fellow Odyssey creators. One criticism I see a lot online is that Odyssey doesn't pay its users, but this isn't entirely true. We don't receive a payment for every article we post online, but if an article goes viral, the author is eligible for that article's ad revenue. After all, rewards should be earned, shouldn't they? Like most student writers, I don't write for money. I write because it is something that I love to do and I want to share my passion with the rest of the world.
(But for the record, I have gotten paid for some of my work, which helps motivate me to keep making my work better.)
Sharing your values and opinions openly isn't always the easiest thing to do. It's people like you who make us scared to do what we love. But you know what? It's also people like you who inspire us to keep doing it. Our goal is to spark conversation. There will never be a day where everyone on this planet agrees with one another and that is OK.
We are here to share our thoughts despite that.
We write so that others out there to know that they're not alone.
We write so that even if people don't agree with us, they can still see our work and form an opinion.
We write so that we can decompress.
We write so that we can prepare for a professional career and learn the skills that it takes to grow as a writer.
We are all human and we all have our own opinions. As a writer, I have learned to take things I don't agree with and write a professional response to it. Now, I don't know if that's just me, but it sounds much more intellectual than leaving a comment on Facebook stereotyping those of us who choose to write and shaming a company for sharing our work.
Odyssey is a great way to sharpen your writing skills and grow. My community has deadlines, meetings, rules, and expectations. We don't just scribble words into a text box and click post. I edit articles and the members of my community have to make revisions. It's not easy but it is so rewarding. It's an opportunity for our writing to be seen and for many of us, it's the start of making a name for ourselves. To be an Odyssey creator, you have to be open-minded and accepting of criticism. You have to be disciplined and committed to putting yourself out there, which is why it's so amazing to me that people try to put us down for what we do.
But hey, at the end of it all, one of our biggest goals is to gain as many people talking as possible. Whether you love our articles or hate them, your snarky comments make it clear that you've at least viewed our article, so thank you for adding to the conversation.
If you're still feeling so negative toward Odyssey and the people who create the content you see, I hope you're able to grow and find something that you are passionate about, just as I am about writing. I challenge you to expand your mind and become a more accepting individual and understand that people will never agree — instead of bashing people who choose to be vulnerable, congratulate them for putting themselves out there. Odyssey has taught me to support my community and everyone who writes chooses to write, whether I agree with their words or not. I hope you can learn to do the same.