By Amanda Doughty, Staff Writer, Emerson College
At the beginning of my college search, I knew I wanted to study English. It was the only class that could keep my attention in high school, and multiple teachers told me that my writing was above average. Yet when people told me that English was a “useless” major and that I wouldn't be able to really do anything with it, I went with the next best thing- journalism. With this major, I could still write, and get a real career. But here’s the thing: I absolutely hated journalism. I shouldn’t have been surprised, as I never enjoyed reading newspapers or watching the news. Eventually, I decided to ignore the haters and became an English major anyway, and I am thrilled with my decision.
The people around me, however, have not been as happy for me.
Technically speaking, I’m not even an English major. The official label for my major is Writing, Literature, and Publishing. To save time, though, I usually just tell people I’m an English major. If I really want to get fancy, I say I’m a Publishing major, but that rarely happens because I haven’t taken a single publishing course yet. Regardless of how I word it, though, I usually get some interesting reactions.
At the beginning of my college search, I knew I wanted to study English. It was the only class that could keep my attention in high school, and multiple teachers told me that my writing was above average. Yet when people told me that English was a “useless” major and that I wouldn't be able to really do anything with it, I went with the next best thing- journalism. With this major, I could still write, and get a real career. But here’s the thing: I absolutely hated journalism. I shouldn’t have been surprised, as I never enjoyed reading newspapers or watching the news. Eventually, I decided to ignore the haters and became an English major anyway, and I am thrilled with my decision.
The people around me, however, have not been as happy for me.
Technically speaking, I’m not even an English major. The official label for my major is Writing, Literature, and Publishing. To save time, though, I usually just tell people I’m an English major. If I really want to get fancy, I say I’m a Publishing major, but that rarely happens because I haven’t taken a single publishing course yet. Regardless of how I word it, though, I usually get some interesting reactions.
One of my favorites is the passive aggressive, “Well, I guess it’s all about what you study in grad school, anyway.” This has happened multiple times. Guess what I plan on studying in grad school right now? Writing. I know, plot twist. I’m sure I’ve shocked all of you. What did you expect? I would suddenly, after four years of studying writing, decide to study biochemistry? I’m not saying I don’t have a backup plan. I do. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop studying what I love.
Then there’s the people “who know this guy who knows this guy’s cousin who wrote a book once.” Seriously, it seems like everyone very distantly knows someone who got something published at some point in time and made a slight profit. And they love to point out that it was only a slight profit, and that this person had another job as well. BECAUSE I HAD NO IDEA THAT I WOULD NEED TO GET A REAL JOB TOO. Seriously, I get it. To give credit where credit is due, though, at least they’re not bashing my major entirely.
Then there’s the people “who know this guy who knows this guy’s cousin who wrote a book once.” Seriously, it seems like everyone very distantly knows someone who got something published at some point in time and made a slight profit. And they love to point out that it was only a slight profit, and that this person had another job as well. BECAUSE I HAD NO IDEA THAT I WOULD NEED TO GET A REAL JOB TOO. Seriously, I get it. To give credit where credit is due, though, at least they’re not bashing my major entirely.
The best of all, though, is the brutally honest, “You know you’re going to be poor, right?” Thanks, bro. Thanks for all that faith you have in me. The funniest thing about these people is they haven’t considered the fact that I might actually be good at what I do. And maybe I’m not good at all, but neither is Stephenie Meyer and look at her now. Shitty writers make it big all the time. Other, great writers never see their works read. It’s a risk, but it’s a risk I’m clearly willing to take. But thanks for your cynical, snide comments. It’s totally appreciated.
At orientation, someone said that the most common major among CEOs is English. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I do know that there are so many things you can do with an English major. The skills you learn in this major can be helpful in a variety of different jobs. Maybe I won’t write the next bestseller. Maybe I’ll never be published at all. But I’ll definitely be doing something, and I’ll be happy doing it. Think about that the next time you make a snide comment about someone’s “useless major.” After all, they may just be running the world someday.
Amanda is the biggest Disney nerd you'll ever meet in your entire life. She also likes food, and tap dancing, and writing...writing's pretty cool too.
Images: Corbis
At orientation, someone said that the most common major among CEOs is English. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I do know that there are so many things you can do with an English major. The skills you learn in this major can be helpful in a variety of different jobs. Maybe I won’t write the next bestseller. Maybe I’ll never be published at all. But I’ll definitely be doing something, and I’ll be happy doing it. Think about that the next time you make a snide comment about someone’s “useless major.” After all, they may just be running the world someday.
Amanda is the biggest Disney nerd you'll ever meet in your entire life. She also likes food, and tap dancing, and writing...writing's pretty cool too.
Images: Corbis