Every time, and I am not joking when I say every time, I tell someone that I’m an English major they respond with “Oh, so you want to teach?”
Originally, at the beginning of my freshman year, I would have responded with an enthusiastic, “Yes, absolutely!” But today, after many quarter-life crises about what I was doing with my life, I respond with a little smile and a polite, but firm, “No, not really.” The purpose of this article is definitely not to shame any English majors who DO want to teach (of which there are many) or any English majors who did choose to teach (two of whom inspired me to become an English major myself). The purpose of this article is to explain that not every English major wants to teach, and why you should stop asking that.
I became an English major originally because I wanted to teach, that I will freely admit. I saw myself as a high school AP English Literature teacher, staying in my home state of Virginia and settling down. But the more I thought about being permanently rooted in Virginia, the more I realized I would not be able to travel as frequently as I desired, I began to question if that was truly the career I wanted.
Why did I stay an English major, you ask? Why would I choose to pursue a degree that many seem to see good for only one thing? Well, besides the fact that writing MLA essays gives me a warm glowy feeling inside and I have always felt more comfortable with books than people, being an English major just felt right to me. I couldn’t take classes specifically on Shakespeare with any other degree, or take a class focusing on one book for an entire semester (which may sound like other’s personal definition of hell, but sounds like heaven to me).
Being an English major is so much more than just writing essays and reading stack after stack of books. English majors are historians, poets, critics, linguists, writers and a host of other things. We are not just reading and typing–we’re so much more than that. We are also so much more than just wanting to be a teacher.
Assuming that an English major wants to be a teacher is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s slightly judgmental to assume that that is all any English major ever aspires to be, but I cannot stop you from making your own judgments and decisions. What I can tell you is to stop asking English majors that. Though many of us do want to be teachers, it is unfair to project this preconceived notion onto every single English major you come across. I don’t ask every Biology major I meet if they want to be a doctor, nor do I ask every Political Science major if they want to be the president of the United States. Even though they probably do, it is still unfair to make assumptions on what someone wants to do with their life based on other people.
Instead of asking “Oh, so you want to be a ___?” I reply with “Oh, so what do you want to do with that?” This avoids any awkward confrontation or assumptions being made on my part and saves the other person the need to explain that no, they do not want to do what other people in their major do.
Again, I cannot stop you from making assumptions or your own judgements. But I can ask you to be a little more open in what you think about certain majors—what seems like a “useless” degree to you may be the only thing another person wants in life.
Here’s to all the English majors out there that do want to teach, don’t want to teach or just want to write books for a living. You’ve got someone in your corner.