So You Are an English Major?

Have you ever considered English as your major, but have a fear for the future? It’s okay.

Being an English Major

Do you love reading so much that that is all you want to do all your life? Do you think about creating your own story? Or do you just really love English classes?

Well, English might be the major for you. But being an English major is not a walk in the park. It would always be that major people would criticize. So here are the thinks that you would most likely get used to hearing as an English major.

So, um... what exactly would you do with your degree?

This question is understandable. Engineering or most majors, excluding most of those in the liberal arts, have a definite career pathway. An Engineering major would most likely be an Engineer, a Nursing major would most likely be a nurse, a Computer Science major would most likely be a programmer or be involved with software. And then here is the English major. The thing is that English majors don’t just have one job once they graduate. They have several jobs. Some English majors end up going to law school, some work in a publishing house, some become teachers (hint: my next point), some work in PR, etc... Once you Google "Careers for English majors," there is a long list that pops up. The English degree is not just limited. It is a very vast scope.

So, you want to be a teacher?

This is one of the most annoying questions to me. Being an English major does not mean we all want to be teachers. Some English majors want to go into the education sector but not all. There are so much more to do than teaching. I would just name a few.

• Copywriter
• Lawyer
• Publisher
• Author
• Screenwriter
• Director
• Legal writer
• Editor
• Journalist

And the list goes on...

It just depends on what exactly you like and what you are aiming for. Just because you are an English major, it doesn't mean you have to be a teacher if you do not want to.

So you speak and write perfect grammar?

I am pretty sure while typing this, I have made so many grammatical errors but that does not make me less of an English major. No one has perfect grammar. Plus as an English major, we are not taught "Grammar." We read a lot and write a lot. We still text like every other person.

Sadly, we are not bestowed the special power of spotting grammatical errors faster than the average human being (even though that would be a very sick super power). Do not expect English Majors to be grammatically perfect.

I am sure you have read… book by …

Most English majors love to read but that does not mean we have read all the books in the world. We are not a library.

This is worse when the book in question is a classic. Not all English majors are into classics generally. Personally I love classics but I really love YA novels. We do get to read a lot of classics during our course periods but that does not mean we read everything.

As English majors, we do not really mind book suggestions from anyone else. We enjoy it.

NOTE: Not all English majors are into reading. Some are more focused on writing and some are focused on a certain element of the major.

I am so excited I chose English as my major. Through all the courses both very easy and extremely hard, I find being an English major very exciting and educative. I do not in anyway regret picking English as my major.