Becoming an English major wasn’t ever something that I had ever entirely sat down and thought “This is what I am meant to do and I am going to do it.” Moreover, it’s just something that naturally fell into place because I simply liked anything to do with the arts. 
On one side of my family, I would say 95% of them have a college degree in something along the lines of engineering or political science–and just about every single person on that side of my family has done something logistical and interrelated to their degree. On the other side of my family, college wasn’t necessarily aforethought or even something worthwhile. Placing myself in the middle of these two distinct lines as someone who studies arts and literature for fun, I find myself wandering through uncharted territory when it comes to defending my English degree.
I have recently also come to a crossroads in my work life. Throughout my college career, I have been doing road construction for my family business. Throughout the years, I have defended my choice of study to my blue-collar coworkers, who plainly think that my only options are to become an English teacher or join them for the rest of my life.
This has made me reflect on what the value of literature has on the larger scope of life. If I were to set my degree down and labor for the rest of my life I would notice that my literary training promotes no value in my work environment (and believe me, I’ve tried). Yet, if I were to chase after something that involves some sort of technical writing and analytical reasoning, I would still find myself feeling like I’ve wasted my time doing something I thought I would enjoy but don’t.
So you’ve probably asked yourself why I am in such a field. The truth in the matter is, I cannot find any other degree that has brought me to fully understand larger world concepts while demonstrating some level of creativity. Paula Moya has a wonderful article on how and why the study of literature can impact our social worldviews. In studying literature I can find absolutely anything that might correlate with my life or the world around me, and I love that. Moya writes, “A close reading of a work of literature—as with a film, a painting, or a piece of music—can thus serve as an excavation of, and a meditation on, the pervasive sociocultural ideas of the social worlds, as well as the worlds of sense, within which both authors and readers live.” The way I view our ever-evolving world, I see it through a lens of ‘life imitates art‘ and vice versa.
Having literature channel all of our collective pain, happiness, or everything in between is somewhat mystical to me. I have found in my day-to-day life that I might interact with someone and think that I’ve read a book that sounds familiar to their situation. Karen Swallow Prior gives a similar run-down on how her ideas of what she calls “spiritual reading” has shifted her worldview. From this, I would argue that dissecting and applying literature gives value to our life and interactions. I don’t think everything always has to be so superficial in finding the true meaning of texts or even life outside of texts, but I think even a simple association of literature to the everyday experience is extremely valuable.
Regardless of whether or not I intend to use my English degree in a professional sense, I have found a great use for it in a personal sense. I feel like having the opportunity to give my time to this interest I’ve had has led me to give more appreciation to the field of English and all of its inner workings.
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