Trust Us, We're English Majors & We Know What We're Doing

Whenever I tell people I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, I always feel like I'm introducing myself at an AA meeting. "Hello, my name's Kyle, and I'm an English major." Contrary to popular belief, this is not something I need to go to therapy for. It was actually a conscious decision. It wasn't a major that was my backup because I didn't get into business or political science. As soon as I took my first English class at the University of Washington I knew it was the right major for me. I am an incredibly creative person who gets easily bored when I'm presented with facts and numbers and told to memorize them so I can spew them out later. I like to be given information to process, internalize, and then apply to the world in a new way. I'm not alone in this. Turns out, most English majors are like this as well.

When you look at the spectrum of potential majors at a university, English is the only major that teaches its students critical thinking and analytical skills which can be applied towards a variety of career paths. I'll admit, you should not hire us if you want to sit us in front of a computer and give us menial tasks to complete. We have a tendency to get cranky if we do that for too long. But give us a problem that requires us to look at it from multiple angles to try and find the best solution. An example that comes to mind is social work and counseling. While yes, we did not study the human brain, we did study the human condition. Reading a book gives you insight into another person's soul. I prefer books in the first person because I know exactly what they're thinking, feeling, experiencing. I believe this enables all readers the ability to empathize more with others. English majors spend hours in those classrooms discussing how the characters felt, why they reacted the way they did, and why the author wrote their text. What was the point of it all?

English majors have a stereotype of all wanting to be teachers. I can promise you I only know of one person who was an English major that went on to be a teacher. Many of us, myself included, have aspirations to be novelists. Others want to be social workers, counselors, journalists, politicians, and even doctors. The underlying theme to all of this- we want to change the world. Now I know that sounds incredibly melodramatic but I actually do not mean this is the colloquial sense. I mean we spent four (or more) years learning how to solve problems, and we want to put that education into practice. We were there with Elizabeth when she was faced with the issues of female identity being dependent on marriage. We pulled the trigger with George when he killed Lennie out of love. We analyzed their social circumstances and discussed how they are applicable  today. How we can change our world. A good piece of literature is when years later or a continent away it still resonates with modern society. And my job was to realize that bridge and write about what we can learn to change our circumstances. So to all those who put out ads for future employees, I would highly recommend adding English to the list of preferred degrees. If not, you might be missing out on someone who could cure cancer, and then write the book about it.

--Kyle

Comments

[David]

When I was almost done with my BA in English, TIME magazine ran an article about job prospects -- and an English degree was described as "a pre-requisite for unemployment". Didn't really work out that way at all...

[Mary Burns]

Kyle, this deeply resonated with my 20-year-old self...I have an English degree, despised my one year of teaching English, got a Master's in Social Psychology, then a Master's in Business Administration...had several business careers - marketing, management, management consulting, as well as teaching university business...good careers but there was always a part of me that was dissatisfied. Boredom fertilizes the seed of disease to a creative person. I took English because I loved it too...now that I am 65, I am returning to the the pursuit of writing and literature. Loved your reference to an AA meeting and not needing to go into therapy...

[Kyle]

Thanks so much for the feedback! Glad to know there are others out there who feel the same way!!