Life as an English major isn’t always the roses and daisies that some may expect, with the amount of workload and effort put into reading and analyzing literature. Yet, you may be surprised to find out what my favorite part of being an English major is.Â
This is my first year at Kent State, and going into my first semester, I had no clue what to expect workload-wise. Having most of my prerequisites out of the way, my coursework was more streamlined, and I was able to start with a pretty substantial course load right off the bat. Although it was nice not having to take any boring intro lectures or gen-eds, I was essentially thrown into the deep end as soon as I started my classes.
Now you may be wondering what this has to do with me being an English major. Well, one thing that is guaranteed during college while being an English major is that you will be reading—A LOT. Obviously, I knew this coming in, and I was looking forward to being exposed to more literature, but I wasn’t quite expecting the 15 books a semester that awaited me. Despite how intimidating that may seem to some, you may be surprised to find out that my favorite part of being an English major is being forced to read.
In my free time, I have often struggled to open a book or even if I do, I struggle to dive into the pages with as much passion as I did as a child. Being forced to read for class allows me to re-engage with this hobby and passion of mine and reignite my love for escaping into a story.
Additionally, being enrolled in classes such as Literature in English (and hopefully a Shakespeare course later), allows me to read stories I probably wouldn’t have reached for in my free time and exposes me to important pieces of literature I didn’t get the chance to read in high school.
So far, I have been extremely lucky in taking literature-based classes that intrigue me such as Death, Dying and the Afterlife, Women’s Literature and Major Modern Writers. In these classes alone, I have been exposed to countless stories of diverse characters in novels or the lived experiences of authors in memoirs we have read.Â
These classes provide the opportunity to access certain stories I may have never reached for on my own, and through class discussion and deconstruction of these books, I have been able to develop my skills of analysis alongside my writing abilities through writing assignments like essays or tests.
Some of my favorite books that I have been assigned that I have fallen in love with are “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath, “Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi, “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel and I am currently reading “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver, which I am thoroughly enjoying.
Most of these stories fall under the category of realistic fiction and stories of women, especially with a focus on mental health struggles (which is typically the genre that I gravitate towards for my recreational reading), yet I have read many other varieties of stories that I have taken a lot from.
I am looking forward to the rest of this semester and the coming years of school, where I will be forced to read more important and fulfilling literature. I hope this reminder of my love of reading encourages both me and other readers to continue to reach for books, instead of our phones, in our free time.