Where English Majors Get It Wrong

My favorite writer's notebook.

Spring 2006, a little girl stands in front of her peers, parents, and friends, her blue eyes shining passionately beneath her homemade graduation cap. She smiles as she declares to the too-crowded room, "I want to be an author when I grow up!", the words ringing awkwardly through the holes between her teeth. Unsurprisingly, that little girl is me. Since that day at my kindergarten graduation, I have never again experienced a moment where declaring my love for the written word has not been met with scorn, guilt, and insecurity. I spent much of my childhood with well-meaning adults pressuring me to become a doctor, and I began the process of earning my Associate of Business at age 13 after my advisor told me that I would never succeed as a writer. Today, backlash against that treatment has made English acceptable within the liberal arts community, with current and former English majors citing their success as evidence for the professional merit of an English degree. They remind us that English can be a stepping stone toward a "real" career, emphasizing success in marketing, healthcare and even, engineering. However, this philosophy misses the point. While the diversity of an English degree makes it wondrous for a variety of occupations, the English degree is still only valued as a pathway toward conventional jobs, a means through which students settle into the demands of the "real world," and abandon their unrealistic (read: creative) dreams. When we play into this system as writers, readers, teachers and learners, we argue for our love of English using the same logic that dismisses it. We weigh our passions on scales of income and job security, versatility and the technological future. When people tell us that books are going out of style, we remind them about journalism and eBooks. When people tell us we won't be employed, we give the world statistics about us. We show them our English qualifications and present careers to say that we aren't just readers and writers; we're real professionals. The thing is, though, writing is a profession. Writing, like problem-solving, leadership, and timeliness, is a necessary skill for almost all workers, and writers are a necessary part of our society. When we delegitimize our own dreams, we cease to accept ourselves as artists, journalists, novelists, teachers, bloggers, playwrights, and more. As writers ourselves, we must support writers. We must support writers in any capacity, and rejecting traditional, artsy writerly roles devastates the passion and purpose inherent in dedicating major portions of our lives to English. The assumption that everyone must conform and contribute to technology and industry threatens our society and the appreciation and survival of art; contributing to this erasure as writers delegitimizes writing as a passion as well as a career. When we say we are only valuable in traditional career roles, we consent to a shift to a world that values writers as tools for compensation, not art; profit, not passion. Gaining strides in business is vital to the success of a capitalist society; however, promoting and valuing education and art is vital to the success of every individual. So, next time someone asks you what you're doing with that useless English degree, don't fire off the statistics. Don't remind them you don't have it all figured out, or say you took a marketing class or two. Don't remind them about your reasonable salary and benefits, or your 9-to-5 lifestyle. Because writing is okay. Writing is bold. Writing is a career. 

#writing #english #college #career