Courtney Guth wants you to give Liberal Arts a biggggg hug. Go on. Do it.—Sparkitors
Inevitably, any time I mention my major to someone, I get the response: “Oh, so you’re an English major? What are you going to do with that? Teach?” While at one point I did have dreams of teaching, that desire is slowly waning. I’m currently leaning towards other options, but a voice in the back of my mind is constantly asking “What am I going to do with my life?”
I believe the idea that “nothing concrete can come from a liberal arts field” has been ingrained into our minds by society. The worship of fields like science, engineering, and math greatly overshadows the amount of support for the liberal arts. But liberal arts are equally important, and they deserve their fair share of recognition. It’s time to stop the major hate and look at what the liberal arts offers:
Expression: As Madonna advocates, you’ve to got to express yourself. Without outlets of expression, such as, painting, writing, and making music, we’d basically all feel like robots. Being creative fosters unique individuals, and produces happy people. Art majors have just as much fun building sculptures in the studio as Chemistry majors do discovering ideas in laboratories.
Dreamers: Society needs the dreamers just as much as the “thinkers” (more on that term below!) The brain has two sides: the left-brain, which is home to logic and analysis and the right brain, which is home to creativity and emotions. By combining both and utilizing all parts of the brain, one is able to succeed. With a liberal arts major, a student can do just that. English papers require a balance of both logic and style. Put them together and you have rhetoric! Oooh, fancy! Especially when writing skills are declining more than ever, teachers and communicators are needed to convey ideas properly.
Critical Thinking: Liberal arts definitely can’t be called the “easy” majors. English requires just as much analysis as any other subject, perhaps even more. Writing a paper may not require the same procedures and processes as a Biology lab, but it does require a fair amount of critical thinking. The ability to take what’s written before you and add your own interpretation and ideas to it is a valuable skill in all fields.
Versatility: A liberal arts degree offers more opportunities than most people care to believe. It’s flexible so it lends itself to a wide variety of jobs. With my English degree, not only can I teach, I can also go into Public Relations, Marketing, Broadcasting, Communications, Publishing, Editing, and more. Hey! I could even write SparkNotes for the rest of my life.
What it all comes down to is this: pursue what makes you happy. If you can’t stand quadratic equations, don’t go into a mathematical field just because you think opportunities are abundant there. If you can’t write a paper to save your life, don’t enter the world of English. Everyone’s entitled to chase after the things they love. Never put someone down because of that. Instead of asking, “So what are you going to do with that?” tell someone, “I can’t wait to see what you’re going to accomplish!”
We totally agree! What are you passionate about? What are you planning to major in?
Related post: The Best T-Shirts for English Majors
Topics: college, majors, english majors, the daily trials of an english major, liberal arts, choosing a major
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