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Yes, You SHOULD Major In English
Many summers ago, I was volunteering within a migrant literacy program in my region. Many of the volunteers were fellow students, either teaching, Spanish or social work majors. At the time, I was an Education major myself, something which changed when I noticed teachers weren’t getting jobs in my state.
One of the students, many years younger than me (I was a non-traditional student) was an English major. One of the other volunteers asked her what she planned to do with that major. The girl stuck out her bottom lip and joked that she could either teach, or get her Masters degree. It was intimated (and accepted) that the major wasn’t a worthwhile one.
About a year later, I was worried about massive teacher layoffs, along with the years ahead of me in my teaching degree. I asked my husband what he thought of me switching to an English major, instead, which could be completed toute de suite. While he marvelled at the savings in student loans, he was unsure of the job prospects. I assured him that I could get any number of marketing, managerial, editorial or similar positions within an office, especially given my past work experience in administration for the State.
Sure enough I got a position as an editor before I even graduated.
I’m waxing long here. Us English majors have a tendency to do that. I am here to crow about how excited I am with my current project with xxxx Publishing. I’m writing on 5 of the most successful literary figures in Latin American history, and making a pretty penny doing it! Last summer I averaged about $80 an hour copyediting materials on Shakespeare–an English major’s dream: getting paid to edit materials on Shakespeare!
So, do I think English is a good major? You can bet your Norton Anthology I do. Of course, there’s the requisite admonishments about having a business sense, getting experience, and planning well. But, in general, I would say my BA in English has come in pretty darn handy.
However,
