Yesterday I got caught up in an impromptu photo shoot. I was at work, just checking in books when a coworker came to get me. Someone from the school was looking for a student (or someone who looked like a student) to be in a picture for a brochure or some kind of literature for the school. I was like, “Can’t you find someone else?” Because I don’t like having my picture taken and my hair was a mess. But we’re still on break and the undergrads are away, so as the youngest looking person around, it had to be me.
I was assured that I would only be in the background of the shot, but in order to set the scene, I still had to pretend to be studying. I grabbed the first thing I saw which was a journal on higher education. I flipped to a random article and started reading.
It just happened that the article was interesting to me, because it was about a major decline in the number of English majors. Apparently, everyone’s studying business these days, even with the economic downturn. That was surprising to me. I mean, it’s always been an impractical major, but people like me have always studied literature anyway. English was actually the more practical major of the two for me.
People sometimes argue with me when I say my majors were impractical. They say things like, “you can do anything with an English major.” That’s true in a certain sense, of course, but you can do almost anything with any major. The question for me is whether you’ll be doing something you want to be doing. I was surprised to graduate with a degree in English and realize that not all of my classmates had the sense to know that no one was going to pay them to sit around and talk about books.
But, by impractical I don’t mean unimportant. I’ve written before about what my education means to me–not the degrees or what I will do with them, but the experience and the way it’s changed me.
I didn’t have a chance to finish the article (though the guy took about a million pictures)1, but it started me thinking and then I came across another article about how it’s stupid to get a PhD in the humanities and then I watched John Green’s latest video. I don’t have conclusions and I probably won’t for another twenty years or so, but I want to express my very gray feelings on the matter.
I am frustrated (and actually a little embarrassed) by humanities majors who never consider what they might do with their degrees. I mean, at some point you’re going to have to support yourself. But, then, I support myself now. And I’m pretty sure this is the only life I have and I know I’ll be spending a huge percentage of it continuing to support myself, so if I have the privilege to get any kind of education I want, why wouldn’t I study the things that fascinate me and bring a richness to my life I don’t think I could find anywhere else.2
Maybe my personality mix of extreme practicality and thorough dreaminess makes this path the perfect one for me. By the time I made it to John’s video, I just felt this overwhelming excitement for the things I study. How lucky am I?
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The title of this post contains two of my favorite things! haha. As a scientist, I wouldn’t have given up my liberal arts education background for anything.
I was an English major at a Liberal Arts school as well. I never knew where I was going with it, but I knew it was the only path I could possibly take that would make me happy.
Ashley, you’re completely right about this: “if I have the privilege to get any kind of education I want, why wouldn’t I study the things that fascinate me and bring a richness to my life I don’t think I could find anywhere else.”
I was a sociology major & philosophy minor. As my friends said, my major was completely useless. And yet, my years outside of school have been so fruitful. Just because I don’t make the big bucks that my other friends do, doesn’t mean I’m not successful and happy. Heck, I’m happier than almost all my friends. They may get to apply their degrees in their specific field, but I get to use my degree across all fields.
I was a high school teacher for 2 years with no education background. Young teachers who studied education don’t understand how I was able to adjust to teaching so quickly. Older faculty was surprised how I was able to excel and able to motivate students with special ed needs. I’m a sociologist. I observe. I take notes. I learn about the society, culture and subculture around me. I was able to teach because I am able to observe my students. Philosophy taught me how to think and adjust my lesson plans and teaching style to best fit all my students.
I’ve been doing IT for 9 years now and my costumer service skills are superb. Being a sociologist, I am forced to be sociable. I’m not just your tech who sits behind a computer all day and don’t know how to talk to people.
An LAS degree is fantastic! You’re able to do anything and everything. The joke when I was back at school with my engineering friends was that they may laugh at me now, but they know that one day I will be there boss. LAS folks may not always think in their field, but they are taught to think for life.
Very nice – I’ve recently been mulling over the value of my degree as well (a highly impractical one, of course – anthropology). I don’t have a job in anthropology (urgh, as much as I wish I could get one further study is required), but my classwork in it has fundamentally changed the way I view things. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
A PhD in the humanities- psh, who would willingly pursue such a thing?
There should be a class for anyone pursuing an English major about how to answer all the “so, what are you going to do with your degree?” questions that you’re bound to get. And I definitely think we all get hung up too much on what “we can do” with our degrees. It’s not as though the degree is a vocational one- you can change your mind and go a different path from the one most closely associated w/ your degree, so you can use the time at college to explore things and ideas above all that are interesting.
My philosophy degree has definitely informed my approach to everything. I want to know, talk, argue often to the annoyance of the people around me. It’s just something I carry with me. I wonder whether with hindsight I would’ve chosen a different major in college, but, honestly, I really can’t imagine what that would have been.
oh, I would not have liked being pulled in for a photo shoot either! ugh, that’s like my worst nightmare! haha. at least you got to read an interesting article out of it. my best friend was an English major and she has always been kind of unsure of what she wanted to do with it, though her dream job would be writing the back covers (or inside flaps) of books :) I was that person who would tell her she could do anything with the degree because employers would know that she can write, read and that she is a critical thinker! but I guess the same could be said about many majors, it’s true, like mine: journalism. though mine does seem more “practical.” anyway, my best friend now works for Bank of America dealing with loans … definitely not her dream job. I don’t think that would be anyone’s dream job! but it pays the bills.
I feel like I’m rambling so I’ll just say I do agree that it is important to study and pursue things that you are interested in, that make you excited and happy. of course you have to support yourself but at the end of the day, what will make life fulfilling is doing something you love. when I chose journalism, it was definitely for love, not money! :)
One of the joys of being young is that you’re still headstrong enough to choose something because you like it. It’s an act of rebellion. I consider it a wonderful thing that people major in things that are obscure, esoteric, and academic. It makes everyone culturally richer. Although people hail the virtues of practicality, I doubt that they truly think we would be better off without music, literature, art, and philosophy.
Just two days ago, I mentioned to someone that I had an English degree and they called it useless unless I was going to attend law school (which won’t be happening). And although some may see it as such, I always thought of an English degree as opening up the possibilities, much as some might assume a business degree might.
Really, I don’t think it matters as much what you studied, so long as you attained that piece of paper. So many employers just want to see that completed education rather than focusing on what the particular major might have been.