To be a teacher? Or to not be a teacher? That seems to be the ONLY question that I receive when people discover that I'm an English major.
This brings me to a topic that I've been thinking about for a while now. I think it's time that I addressed the subtitle of my blog - "The Life of an
English Major at UC Berkeley".
Why did I decide to be an English major you may ask? Well, it's because I love it. It's really that simple. I have loved stories every since I was a little girl. I used to make up little fairy tales for my parents to write down and I continue to write to this day. I began to read when I was very young and have loved it ever since. English was always my favorite class in school - especially AP Literature my senior year of high school. I found that I could never feel stressed while I was within the four walls of that classroom. So much of my life regrettably revolves around me, myself, and I, and that can be so emotionally exhausting. I love studying literature because it forces me to step outside of myself, to see new perspectives, and to continue to learn about what it means to be human.
I do, however, also have a lot of respect for the math and sciences. I was fascinated by biology, physics, chemistry, and calculus in high school. I was amazed at the practicality of it all and how God's design is so visible in the minutest of details. But I'm not passionate about math or science, and that makes all the difference.
Over this last semester at Berkeley, the stigma against the humanities became very apparent to me. It's never really stated in words, but there is definitely a feeling of superiority that hovers over the math and sciences. I'm not saying that math and science classes are easier or harder than humanities classes - they're just different. There are too many variables to consider. I don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers, so know that it's not my intention to lessen the intensity of going into a mathematical or scientific field of study. My purpose is merely to explain why I personally didn't choose those paths.
I got good grades in math and science. In fact, I got A's in chemistry, biology, physics, and calculus, in high school. I know that I could have done something in math or science if I had wanted to. A lot of the time, I get the feeling that people believe that humanities majors are only pursuing that path because they are incapable of doing something "better". Although that is probably true for some people, it is definitely not true for all.
There are so many things that come into account when people choose their courses of study. I chose to follow my passion. There are many other people who decide not to follow their passion because of family or social pressure. Projections of future success in the work world also play a huge part in student's decisions. Maybe I will be a teacher. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll get accepted into graduate school and become a professor. Maybe I won't. I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but I do know myself, and I know that studying literature gives me so much joy, and at the end of the day that's what matters to me.
My wish for everyone is that they would take many different things into consideration when choosing their major. Don't do it for the money. Don't do it for your parents. Don't do it for the prestige. Do it for you, because you're the one that's going to have to live with your decision one way or the other. If money, prestige, and your parent's approval, all line up with your passion, than that's great! Go for it! But please don't let those things be the only factors you consider.There's a big, big world out there, and it needs all sorts of different people - not just the math-and-sciency ones.
So there you have it. I hope that this doesn't offend anyone. One of my best friends is studying to become a veterinarian and the other is studying to become an engineer. They are following their passions too and I wish them the very best of luck. That's just not the path for me. I'm incredibly excited for my journey as an English major at Berkeley and for all of the things that I'm going to learn! If you're a humanities-lover like myself, I want to encourage you to follow that path if you so desire. It may appear to be the "easy" path in the the eyes of our society, but it certainly is a lot of fun :). If anyone has questions for me, please feel free to comment below! I would love to answer them! Until next time.
Sincerely,
Olivia
