When it came time to decide on what schools and majors to choose from, it seemed as if I had spent the last four years of high school doing nothing. I was left lost and scared for the future. I remember sitting in my Civics and Careers class in 10th grade, and hearing my teacher’s zealous rant about how humanitarian degrees, like English and Psychology, were useless and a waste of money. This idea of wasting four years of my life achieving nothing stuck with me till senior year. I was anxious for what the future held for me and my biggest fear was suffering through four years of a degree that I didn’t enjoy, or a degree that was deemed useless. Deep down I knew what I wanted. Being an English major was a dream for me, but that dream had to wait. My road to finally picking my major was a long one.
I originally applied to and got accepted into Kinesiology. I really believed for a moment that when Fall came I would be sitting in Human Anatomy 101, and not a Romantics class. I went to night school for biology and even did co-op at a physiotherapy clinic. I was committed to falling in love with Kinesiology;however, I was lying to myself and I knew it. In truth, I knew kinesiology wasn’t the major for me, but fears of being left jobless with a ton of debt kept me away from any humanity degree.
A turning point in my struggles of choosing my major was a conversation that I had with my English teacher, who ultimately reminded me that there was no such thing as a useless degree, and that my post undergrad career would be in my hands. There are endless options of what you can do with an English degree and I shouldn’t let fear get in the way of my passion. Subsequently, I realized that my passion for language and learning eclipsed any doubt that resided in my heart. In the end, I chose myself, and I chose the option that made me the happiest. I’m almost two years into my English degree and I know that I made the right choice. I would choose English over and over again.
From early morning Zoom lectures on sonnets, to completing a whole class on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, choosing English as my major was a no-brainer. Yet my path to discovering the right major is something I wouldn’t change. Suffering through chemistry class, going to night school, and having my amazing co-op experience at a psychotherapy clinic are all things I wouldn’t change. It was through these experiences that I was able to come to terms with what I really wanted. My advice to you is to pick the major that ultimately makes you happy. It’s four years of your life that’s going to be spent enduring that subject, so it better be something you’re passionate about. Forget about useless degrees and focus on enjoying your university experience. Post undergrad life is about how you market yourself and make use of your degree.