Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Starving Artist? Try Starving Writer.

After deciding to attend college, I already knew what I didn't want to do. Picking a major is, undoubtedly, a major decision. You will never find me happily sitting in a math or science class. My preference is not based upon not recognizing the importance of those fields; I do. However, I have always been more moved by issues in communication and language. Without proper skills in reading and writing, a person has no hope to retain lessons from the past or communicate effectively their preferences for the future.

When I came out to my family as an English Major, they were pleased, assuming that I would be a teacher or professor. After I cleared up that I had no interest in teaching, they were concerned. "But isn't that the only thing you can do with a degree in English?" "How will you support yourself?" "Oh, you'll be broke your whole life."

Of course, I started to worry. How would I support myself? If everyone expects me to teach, maybe that is all I would be capable of? I started considering possibly changing my major back to business. That idea was far more well received, and seemed practical.

Then, I read the description on UT Tyler's website, and the information they shared eased my mind. Without understanding the past and the people that inhabited it, we have no hope to better ourselves in the future. Plenty of fields are looking for individuals that have a command of language. My department graduates people who get the degree and work in fields including journalism, linguistics, communications, advertising, social work, publishing, theatre, theology, law, and government. Not to mention my professional, paid blogger dreams~

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