As a high school senior on the cusp of graduation, I have been virtually programmed to respond to the universal post-high-school-plans questions with polite, concise and specific answers.
"Where are you going to college next year?"
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, better known as WPI. Thank you for asking.
"What's your major?"
Biomedical engineering, with a concentration most likely in biomechanics. I'm also minoring in writing and rhetoric.
"A writing minor?"
My intended minor has a tendency to get intrigued responses with dashes of skepticism. For some reason, it's unusual to hear of an engineering major who also has an interest in the liberal arts. When you hear "engineer," you don't tend to think of writing, right? You think of an innovator, that person in the lab who designs the car that you drive. You don't necessarily think of a person who is able to write and present the data collected when designing that car in an interesting and unique fashion.
Here's the thing: writing isn't just about knowing the difference between "your" and "you're" and knowing if a sentence is long for effect or if it needs to be shortened because it's a run-on sentence. It's about presenting your ideas, and frankly that part is under-emphasized. So many high school students gripe about having to take some sort of English course during their schooling because they're "never going to use this."
Wrong. They will. You will. You already do. You use English every time you post on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. You may not realize it, but every time you write something you are using the power of English to portray your idea. It doesn't matter if it's a lengthy sentimental post about graduation on Facebook or if it's a far simpler "just cheesin'" that captions your Instagram post. Anytime you post something on social media, you are presenting an idea in the written word. Thus, you are using English.
And it's not just on social media that you will use English. The skill is prominent in the workforce, too. There will be a time when you have to send you manager or some person in a higher power position an email. I'm not talking about a casual email riddled with grammar mistakes. I'm talking about a professionally written piece that borderlines prose. With English and writing, it's all about presentation. The entire point of being able to write is being able to present. And the ability to present will be there anytime you have to design a PowerPoint presentation. No matter what field you go into, be it English or science or math, you're going to have to give some sort of presentation. And with that comes using the written word.
Recently, I was talking with a culinary graduate student. Of course, college was brought up.
"Do you know where you're going?"
"WPI, actually."
"What's your major?"
"Biomedical engineering, minor in writing."
"Writing, huh? That's a really good skill to have."
The student then went on to explain how, for her graduate degree, she has to read a countless plethora of dissertations and other graduate studies. Only a rare few are actually interesting to read. That stuck with me as I continued my senior year.
I learned from that student that presentation is everything. You can do the most interesting research in the world, but not have anyone read it because presentation is poor. You could revolutionize the entire field of robotics with a spark of innovation, but have that spark shut out because you presented your spark with the stiff, mechanic diction of a robot. You can have the most interesting research in the world, but it could mean little unless you know how to present it.
And that's the thing: we always emphasize our ideas. People focus more on the work itself. Of course, that's the interesting part. But you can always make it more interesting by writing about it. Rather, you can always develop your skills as a writer further by writing. And that is what will make your work and paper all the more powerful.
