For the people that really, really love school
Whenever someone asks me what I’m studying at school, I always have to pause to make sure I don’t miss anything. I’m triple majoring in History, English, International Studies and minoring in European Studies, Art History and Folklore—it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It’s hard for most people to imagine when one or two majors and a minor or two can feel daunting enough. But I’ve thoroughly enjoyed triple majoring because of all the topics I’ve been able to explore that I might not have if I’d just stuck to my intended path of study at the beginning of my freshman year: a double major in International Studies and English.
I always knew I wanted to double major. I’ve been creative writing extensively ever since middle school and I knew I wanted to study English, but I also wanted to study something that felt a little more ‘useful’ while still pursuing a humanities degree. As I was taking my International Studies classes, I realized that I kept picking history classes, particularly European history classes: History of Scandinavia 1815 to the present, The Culture of Dissent in Hungary and Poland during the 1960s and 1980s, Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe. When I met with a History advisor to see about adding a History certificate, I was told that I basically had the same amount of classes left to add another major instead of a minor. It seemed almost intuitive to study History too, since it was already what I was doing and I was reading a lot of history books outside of my classes. I was lucky that my classes could overlap like that, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have been able to complete all three. I was also lucky that I had planned out my four years in advance. By the end of my freshman year, I’d done lots of my prerequisites for my first two degrees and had room in my schedule for more classes.
I like to tell people that because I wasn’t able to write a senior thesis (I couldn’t find any advisors that worked on what I wanted to write about), I added three minors instead. I didn’t have to do any extra work for European Studies because almost all the classes I was taking were related to Europe in one way or another. Once I decided that I might be interested in working at a museum, I figured I should take some Art History classes as well to have experience in the field. Studying in Ireland for a year and being able to travel to places like France, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland allowed me to see many different kinds of art and I became more interested in learning about the pictures themselves, especially the portraits—who had painted them, who was portrayed in them and how did they fit into larger histories of the places and times where they were painted?
Finally, I stumbled into folklore as a happy accident. By the time I realized I wanted to study it, I’d already taken two folklore classes: a class on folklore in music my first semester freshman year, and a class on central European folklore my sophomore year. I became interested in studying folklore while studying abroad. Ireland has a rich folkloric history with entire books devoted to its folk and fairy tales and I read as many of them as I could. I had just enough room in my senior year schedule to add enough folklore classes to fulfill the requirements for the minor. This semester I’m taking five classes, writing final papers about literary architectures, marriage portraiture in Renaissance Florence, the historical accuracy of Marie Antoinette (2006) directed by Sofia Coppola, Indonesia in the post WWII era and the roots of Tolkien’s elves in British and Scandinavian folklore. Even though I’m studying such disparate topics, I’m glad to have the opportunity to explore so many of my interests and gain a broader understanding of European history in all of its various forms while being able to strengthen my writing in various creative writing workshops.
Of course, triple majoring isn’t for everyone. I’ve had to carefully plan out my schedule since freshman year, taking summer classes to make sure I can fit everything in. I’ve taken summer classes every summer. In 2021, I took four summer classes. I really have gone to school year round. Luckily, this isn’t a problem because I’m increasingly realizing, especially as graduation gets closer and closer, that I love school. While a lot of my friends are feeling burnt out (and I don’t blame them), I’m always finding things I want to learn more about. Being able to explore my own interests has helped me realize how my overarching interest (history) can intersect with many different fields. It’s been an extremely fulfilling process that has fired me with a new curiosity for the world around me that extends far outside of my college classes.
A triple major could be a good fit for students with many different interests that are related enough for there to be some overlap in their classes, who are also interested in widening the depth of their general knowledge. It’s a great way to take full advantage of the academic aspect of your time at college.