It’s worth noting that I am an indecisive person. Smaller decisions—like where to go to for lunch or which movie to watch—are often tougher for me than big decisions—like confessing my love or getting a new job. I am not indecisive because I don’t like all my options, but rather because I like too many of them. I have a knack for seeing the potential in everything. Regardless, though, I have never been indecisive about choosing my major.
English literature was always the right path for me. Looking back on it now, it could never have been anything else. Sure, I have the fire for political science, the patience for teaching, and the ambition for business, but my passion has always been for words and stories. Learning how to tell them and communicate arguments has always been everything to me.
Still, though, there is a strong association between English major and unemployment or unpayable debt. Full disclaimer: I pay for college mostly out of my own pocket, and I work several jobs to afford to be here. People often ask me why I would pay to go to an expensive private school like BU, to be an English major.
I knew that no matter how much money BU gave me, it still wouldn’t be as cheap as my state school. However, on that day in April, when I finally received my financial aid package, it came closer than I thought it would––coming up to an additional 10k a year. In the grand scheme of things, I couldn’t believe it. That would mean one more loan a year, rather than multiple.
Since I’ve been here for over a year now, I am still happy with my decision. Even though it means more hours at work and tighter budget restrictions, I feel like the change in my education and environment makes it worthwhile. My newfound happiness, the opposite of what I had been feeling at my previous institution, in addition to the surplus of resources, internship opportunities, and shared passion among peers, justifies the extra cost.
Now, when people still question my decision to come here because they see an English major as just that—a major—it’s an opportunity to remind them and myself that a major does not specifically correlate with a job. Speaking for English majors everywhere, there is so much you can do with a degree in English—teaching, consulting, editing, publishing, advertising, law, policy, research, journalism, etc. Personally, I’m pre-law and can’t wait to use my analysis and argument skills—that I’ve developed as a result of studying literature—and apply them to a legal profession.
Majors don’t box us into one specific career path. Even if a major is condemned as being synonymous with unemployment or debt, it does not necessarily mean that that is certain. I’m tired of English majors being written off like this, and I’m sure many majors across humanities, and the arts feel similarly. Poets, painters, and artists have been written off like this for centuries, and yet, it is art and culture people remember the most about a place.
As Robin Williams said in Dead Poets Society, “Medicine, law, business, engineering––these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
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