Everyone who goes to college and chooses a major, has a story of why they chose their major. Sometimes that story is as simple as this degree will help me make a lot of money upon graduation, but, more often than not, that major means something to the one pursuing it – that is the case for me. If it was not, I would not put up with the early mornings or late nights. Nor, would I put up with the reading or watching of texts that have come to haunt me.

     As an English major, one does not just read or watch a story unfold in front of them to have fun. It is so much more than that. In this major, you read and watch things that challenge you both physically and emotionally. At times during the journey to achieve this major, you may want to give up because of how difficult and stressful the work is, but at other times, you persevere because of a desire to understand what humanity is like at its core. The desire to understand humanity at its core is why I became an English major. However, my journey towards achieving this goal has been difficult, both professionally and personally.

     The story of how I became an English major started with my mother, who inspired my love of hearing a story told in all forms when I was a child. In addition, my mother encouraged me when she allowed me the freedom to explore literature that may have been considered advanced for my age. For instance, as a child I liked to try and read classic literature, and watch crime dramas. However, instead of telling me that I was too young to participate in these things, my mother helped me to understand the story that was being portrayed. This, in turn, allowed me the confidence and determination to continue to explore many different kinds of stories and how human nature in these stories could reflect the reality of the world around us. To clarify, stories can reflect our reality through the use of themes, such as love. Additionally, human nature can reflect our reality, in the way characters are written by an author. How an author chooses to portray a character and the challenges that characters faces, can have a profound effect on the reader or audience.

     Eventually, my confidence and determination allowed me to succeed in my Honor’s English courses in my freshman and sophomore years of High School, and my Advanced Placement English courses in my junior and senior years. During those years, I began to have a deeper love for the way in which a story could reflect our reality, and for character analysis. My love for character analysis was due to the way I loved to explore human nature in stories, and how characters could mirror us or other people in real life. In turn, when I was eighteen, my love for seeing a story reflect our world led me to decide to pursue a major in English. In this decision, I was supported by both my father and my mother.

     However, everything changed when I was nineteen. I was in my second semester at Forsyth Technical Community College when my mother became very sick at the end of January 2016. When this happened, she went into the hospital where she continued to decline, and was eventually put-on life support in the hope that she would recover. Despite this, her condition continued to worsen. As a result, we ended up taking her off of the life support ventilator, and she passed away on March 9th. Even though we were told she had no chance of recovery, my family’s decision to take her off life support left me with a sense of misplaced guilt over what had happened to her.

     I had lost the main person who always encouraged my love of hearing a story told, and who had encouraged me to pursue my English major. After her passing, I was not sure if I could continue with my major. It felt like the gift my mother had given me- my love of stories - was a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because she had given me something to remember her by, and a curse, because my major now embodied a sense of loss and the pain associated with it.

     It was about eight or nine months after she had passed, that I started to realize that there was no logical reason to feel guilty over the choice we had made. This conclusion helped me to make the choice to continue with my English major. The main reason I chose to stay with this major, is because I knew that my mother would not have wanted me to give up on my dream, and the best way to honor her memory was to move forward. Once I had made this decision, I finished my Associate in Arts degree and transferred to Guilford College. During this time, I took many different courses in English, Film and Theatre. With that said, the pain from this loss still haunts me every time I work with any story - whether it be professionally or personally.

     During my time of completing these courses, I have had many late nights, early mornings and difficult moments in-between. I have been challenged both physically and emotionally, and have learned many skills from my degree. For instance, I have learned a good deal about research, “technical analysis and interpretation, critical and creative writing” (Careers After an English Major). Additionally, I have also learned to "work well under deadlines, communicate effectively, [and] think creatively” (Griswold) in this major.

     One example that showcased many of the skills learned during the course of working towards my English major, was in my senior English course which focused on Angels and Devils. In this course, I had class work, projects and my capstone all of which had to be completed in a short period. To be able to complete these tasks, I worked on my class work and projects during the day, and my capstone at night. In addition, the most challenging aspect was my capstone project, which was a Shadowhunters-Wiki website, based off of Freeform’s Shadowhunters TV show that was developed by Ed Decter.

     To create this website, I had to first remember that I was working under a deadline. At this time, it was the end of September and the due date for this project was the beginning of December. With that in mind, I completed the research first in order to have an idea of what I wanted the website to contain. That took me until the end of October. For my research, I started by re-watching the three seasons -  all fifty- five-hour long episodes - of Decter’s, Shadowhunters, and taking notes on each episode.

      Additionally, while I was watching these episodes, I also read different articles and a book that focused on this series, and took notes on each of them. By watching and reading texts about this series, and taking notes, I was analyzing and working towards further understanding the show. Yet, I was also keeping in mind the time limit that I had been given. In other words, I was using the skills of research, working under a deadline, and “technical analysis and interpretation” (Careers After an English Major).

     Next, I had to start planning how I wanted the website designed, and what it would contain. For this, I went back to the notes I had taken, and decided to have these main sections: “Introduction,” “Terms of the Shadow World,” “Demons and Angels,” “Characters,” “Love and Acceptance” and “A Comparison.” This last section focused on comparing Decter’s Shadowhunters with parts from Christopher Marlowe’s, Doctor Faustus. After that, I defined the vocabulary of this show, and wrote the character biographies and multiple analytical articles for each section. On Microsoft word this totaled over seventy pages. Also, while I was completing this writing, I was designing my website, and adding graphics and a works cited page to it. It was the end of November by the time I had completed all of this, and ended up proofreading and publishing my website.

      While these articles were not an example of “creative writing,” (Careers After an English Major) they were an example of “critical” (Careers After an English Major) and/or analytical writing, due to the way I was intentionally analyzing and/or arguing a point about the Shadowhunters TV show, either by itself or with Marlowe’s play. Furthermore, by writing all of those different aspects for my website, I was challenged to “communicate effectively, [and] think creatively” (Griswold). For communication, I had to take the time to describe every aspect of this show, to make sure my audience could understand my articles and the argument I was trying to make. This made me “think creatively,” (Griswold) because I was constantly having to question my presentation. Would this make sense to an audience that does not know anything about this show? If the answer was no, I had to formulate a better explanation.

     Yet, the skills of “technical analysis and interpretation, critical” (Careers After an English Major) or to "work well under deadlines, communicate effectively, [and] think creatively” (Griswold) are not all that an English major does in analytical work. In fact, many English majors also pursue “creative writing” (Careers After an English Major) or are, at least, exposed to it in their classes. For instance, I was exposed to short story, script, novel and different forms of poetry writing when I took Creative Writing I and Creative Writing II at Forsyth Technical Community College. Another example was when I took a Contemporary Fiction course at Guilford College, and learned about narrative writing when I had to incorporate some of my classmates’ comments in any paper we wrote for the course.

     In addition to being exposed to “creative writing” (Careers After an English Major) in the classroom, many English majors learn more by exposing themselves to an author’s writing style outside of classroom walls. One example, for me, would be when I read a collection of poetry entitled, I Wrote This for You by Iain S.  Thomas in 2016. From the moment, I read this collection, my preconception of poetry was shattered. I had always thought poetry had to rhyme, and his did not always do so. After reading his poems, I was inspired to begin writing my own poetry, and began to do so in 2017. Now, after several years of writing, two of my poems are set to be published this coming spring.

     There is one aspect of my major that has stuck with me just as much as the skills previously mentioned. You see, English majors are in a unique position when they read a piece of literature or watch a show, movie or play – they are seeing the world around them from multiple viewpoints, and in some cases, are forever changed by them. To clarify, they would inherently be investigating the viewpoints of a character or an author in order to discover a way in which to connect with them. Do they have any personal connection to the character or author? Can they imagine themselves in the character or authors place to better understand their situation or why a piece was written?

     In turn, this major “fosters empathy, which enables human beings to see things from someone else’s point of view and to care about perspectives different from their own” (Beale).  By learning multiple viewpoints, the English major, myself included, is willingly opening themselves up to understanding, not only themselves, but the world and the people around them. When English majors do this, it enables them to better understand different issues presented by society, even if they have never been in the situation themselves. Ultimately, it allows them to better understand others. During my time of pursuing this major, I have had several instances of when I looked into viewpoints that have intrigued me, and then have proven difficult to work with. Yet, they have allowed me to either become more empathetic, or to understand a text and/or character in a different way.

     One example, was during my Ethics class that I took in Fall 2018, which was required for my English major. In this course, we discussed many different philosophical questions, including if it was ever truly right to tell a lie. To debate this, my class was tasked with watching the movie Sophie Scholl: The Final Days which is based off of a real-life story. Then, we were asked to decide if Sophie was right to lie in order to protect her family. During this experience, my class and I watched Sophie and her brother, who were members of the White Rose Society, try to spread news that would help to stop Hitler. Throughout watching it, we learned that they were caught, and Sophie lies and says she and her brother were not part of the society.

     Despite this, her lie is discovered and she admits to it. However, in order to protect her family and the White Rose Society, she does not reveal any more information. At the end, Sophie and her brother are allowed to say goodbye to her parents. Then, she, her brother, and another man are executed by the use of a guillotine. When the movie had concluded, my class left the room silently - no one said a word. At our next class, still no one was sure what to say. One thing was clear though, and that was that we had all felt sympathetic to Sophie’s situation. This was not only due to the portrayal of this movie; it was because each of us knew what it was like to have someone we loved enough that we would have lied in order to protect them.

     Another example, was when I was watching season one of Batwoman in 2019-2020 and trying to complete a character analysis on Kate Kane, whose secret identity is Batwoman. While watching that season, I began to understand that she was still grieving the loss of her mother and twin sister who died in a car accident when Kate was thirteen. In this series, she is in her late twenties and still feels guilt for not being able to do something to save her sister. Kate has also been expelled from her military school, Point Rock, due to her sexuality, and has since spent her time traveling the world to train with various physical and strategic experts. As the series begins, she has just returned to Gotham after her five-year hiatus.  

     During episode one, “Pilot,” Kate made several startling discoveries. She learns her sister is actually alive and is now a murderer and that her cousin, Bruce Wayne, was Batman. She then choses to assume the role of Batwoman. She said something that resonated with me, “Find your own way.” This quote, in turn, sums up what Kate is trying to do throughout the entire season – she is trying to discover a place where she belongs. Yet, the reason this quote and character resonated with me is because she, like all of us, is trying to “Find your [our] own way” through life’s many challenges. I could also relate with this character because I know what it feels like to lose a parent, and I know what it feels like to have misplaced guilt over what happened to a loved one. All of these different aspects, enabled me to empathize with her character and come away with a better sense of who she is.

     A more recent example of learning to be more empathetic occurred, last semester in Fall 2020, when I was working on my Shadowhunters-Wiki for my senior English class. At this time, I was still working on my research for the website and was watching episode five, in season two entitled, “Dust and Shadows.”  In this episode, one of the main characters, Clary Fairchild, had to attend her mother’s funeral. Right before watching the scene where Clary attends the funeral and tries to say her mother’s name in remembrance of her and cannot, I paused the episode.

     I walked out of the room to prepare myself for the scene I knew was coming. I took a few minutes, and then went back to watching the rest of the episode and taking notes. The reason this scene bothered me was because I could understand what attending a parent’s funeral is like due to losing my mother. Further, I could relate to trying to speak in remembrance of a parent, and having a difficult time in doing so. My loss was what allowed me to connect with Clary, and later to better understand how to write articles about her for my website.

     These examples are only three out of the many that have either haunted me, or that I have found difficult to work with during the time of pursuing this degree. However, I am grateful to have had the chance to work with them and with others. Being an English major, and being allowed to study these characters and situations, have opened my eyes to the world around me. In some cases, like with Kate and Clary, even helped me to process the loss of my own mother or something else that was personal. Additionally, this major has challenged me to not shy away from answering difficult ethical questions, and to use my own personal experience in a way that I never thought possible; but ultimately in a way that has proven beneficial.

     Yes, these skills are helpful in school, but you are probably asking yourself are any of them helpful in the workforce? Well, for jobs a good deal of communication takes place in the written format. For instance, “email, instant messaging, texting, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. That means writing skills are incredibly important. English majors know how to write crisply and concisely, and also have a strong grasp of tone” (Griswold). This in turn, means that they must “communicate effectively” (Griswold) to their potential employers, bosses and co-workers. 

     To do this, English majors can use their skills of “technical analysis and interpretation” (Careers After an English Major) and analytical writing to be able to assess a situation and respond to it effectively. For instance, I once held the position of bookseller at Forsyth Technical Community College’s bookstore run by Barnes and Noble College. While there, I was in charge of working a cash register, and helping students locate their textbooks. Additionally, I also contacted publishers of textbooks place orders. In some cases, I also assisted with training new employees. At times, I was asked by an assistant manager, to draft emails that offered an explanation to customers when a book was backordered. In each of these cases, I had to be able to “communicate effectively” (Griswold) in order to fulfill a customer’s need, speak with a publisher or write emails that gave customers an explanation in a timely manner, or rather to work under a deadline.

     However, my past job as a bookseller is only one example of many that English majors can acquire. This is due to the fact that, “Studying English prepares you for a diverse range of professional fields, including teaching, journalism, law, publishing, medicine, and the fine arts” (Careers After an English Major). The reason is because the English major teaches effective communication, writing and analytical skills that can be adapted to almost any career. In turn, this is what allows English majors to have a wide range of capabilities and career choices.

     To take this a step further, “The English major not only lives up to social, educational, and governmental expectations of producing employable persons, but also fosters the development of people who are self-actualized and improve society in many different ways” (Beale). This brings us back to how the English major teaches one more about themselves, and to empathize with others. When one is willing to see, and try to understand the viewpoint of others, whether it be in the fictional world or the real world, one is able to have a better connection with others. This connection, in turn, may allow them solve problems in society that lead to improvement, or better understanding.

     In short, the English major is valuable whether in the classroom, in a job, or outside of it in our everyday lives. This major teaches one about themselves by having them learn about the world around them, and how to take that experience and empathize others. If one can learn the skills from this major and “communicate effectively” (Griswold) to be able to get their point across – that, in turn, leads them to a path that is open to many possibilities. The skills that lead to these varied possibilities, and learning to be more empathetic are what make the English major valuable, professionally and personally.

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