If you have ever experienced the joy of declaring yourself an English major, you will understand what it means to be on the defense. It is not uncommon to mentally prepare for the response after uttering the words, “I’m studying English.” This sentence is usually followed by overcompensated excitement or a forced lecture about how […]
Archive | The Work of English
Always Meant to Be an English Major
When I made the official switch to becoming an English major from my Communications major, I believed that I had initially made the wrong choice or that I was choosing a “harder” path. However, that was not the case at all, nor do I know why I thought it would be. As much as many […]
Doing Whatever I Want with an English Degree
When I started doing my Associate’s Degree in high school I often had people around me ask, “What do you even do with an Associate of Arts?”. My typical reply ran along the lines of “Whatever the hell I want.” This still carries over to reactions of me being an English major and I still […]
Exploring the Ambiguous
Throughout my college experience, I have faced many challenges within the classroom which resonate with my personal and professional life. As noted in an earlier blog post, I came to college wishing to pursue a pre-med track that would lead me toward a clean white doctor’s coat of my own. However, I quickly realized my […]
I Put the “Human” in Humanities
In 2017, I stepped into my first college level English course titled “The British Bestseller”. At the time, I was a computer science major with a pocketful of humanities transfer credits and advisors that wanted me to stay focused so I could graduate early. Being an 18 year old who knew nothing about coding (or himself), […]
Having an “English Major” Brain Helped Me Figure Out My Post-Grad Plans
I think that if there’s one thing having an English major teaches you, it is how to be clever. You can—pardon my French—bullshit your way through a conversation by being persuasive. You die on a hill without understanding the metaphorical “hill”. George Anders in You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a ‘Useless’ Liberal […]
No, I’m Not Going to Teach
Despite remaining firm in my decision to major in English, I still have my occasional doubts regarding its worth. I think said doubts likely stem from the infamous question, “What are you going to do after you graduate? Teach?” The answer (at least for now) is no. I am not going to teach. I have […]
The Resume Dilemma or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the English Major
At a certain point before, during, or after pursuing their degree, I suspect every English major is confronted by what I’ll call “the resume dilemma”—that is, the challenge of translating their interests and accomplishments into language that could be understood and appreciated by would-be employers who come from different academic (usually non-liberal arts) backgrounds. In […]