{"id":704,"date":"2020-08-07T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/?p=704"},"modified":"2020-08-17T18:45:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T18:45:15","slug":"why-i-was-an-english-major","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/07\/why-i-was-an-english-major\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Was an English Major"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you know anything about me, you might know I&#8217;m not super enthusiastic about the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luminafoundation.org\/news-and-views\/six-predictions-for-higher-ed-in-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\">state of higher education<\/a>. I actually haven&#8217;t been a fan for about a decade or so, and yet, all of my whinging hasn&#8217;t made much of a difference. I&#8217;m not in a position to make those decisions, and make changes-and yet the arguments for what needs to change continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was more than a decade ago that I left college. Which was much later than most of my peers, which had both to do with affordability and being a first generation (in my immediate family, a lot of people don&#8217;t know that).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I finished, walked away with an English degree and honestly so much more than that (including lots of debt). These are some of the things my English degree afforded me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/python-684x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-707\" width=\"611\" height=\"914\" srcset=\"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/python-684x1024.jpeg 684w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/python-200x300.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/python-768x1150.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/python.jpeg 868w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Resentment toward the expensive liberal arts college that tried to gouge me financially. <\/li><li>A more than comprehensive knowledge of all American and English Literature pre-(and post)1950 (sigh).<\/li><li>Relationships with very interesting people who <strong>could<\/strong> do nothing for me networking-wise.<\/li><li>How to write creatively, critique, and teach writing.<\/li><li>Insider intel into how the collegiate system works and how it is very broken.<\/li><li>A stellar GPA that I built from the ground  up. (we&#8217;re talking 2 whole points in 1 &amp; 1\/2 years)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If I look back on my college experience and had to paint you a picture, it would be arduous and difficult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/painter-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-710\" srcset=\"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/painter-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/painter-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/painter-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/painter-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/painter-1200x675.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/painter.jpeg 1880w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I would have to explain the dumpster fire that was my home and family life just as I started my first year.<\/li><li>I would have to explain why I went to 3 different colleges and attempted 3 different degrees<\/li><li>I would have to explain why I lived in 3 different states<\/li><li>I would have to explain why I was a Communications turned Liberal Arts turned Literature &amp; Writing major with a Sociology minor turned English major who ended up teaching GWE &amp; Women&#8217;s Studies and in an Improv Group (actually that part of the story is interesting and I will mostly like tell you more about that at some point).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>But for the purposes of this post, I am going to explain why I was an English major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I settled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You read that right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I did what I had to do with the options I was given. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, let&#8217;s back up. I&#8217;m not saying there is anything wrong with the English major, but ask around and it would seem (depending on who you ask&#8211;this is important!) that it is the dumbest mistake a human being can make. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And at the time it seemed like the smartest. Financially that is. It was what I had to do to ensure I would finish in the shortest amount of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the reality of college in America is, it&#8217;s a lovely time, and you learn a ton (you do, honestly) but you can&#8217;t get a <strong>real<\/strong> job and go to school full time. And you can&#8217;t afford school at all if you don&#8217;t have a full time job. AND knowing that these &#8220;time management&#8221; issues exist for most people, (most) colleges don&#8217;t care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>They make you take classes certain times of the day and in an order that doesn&#8217;t make sense.<\/li><li>They punish you for wanting a well-rounded education, i.e. taking a variety of classes.<\/li><li>They make certain classes requirements for graduation, but then never make those classes available (?)<\/li><li>All the while, they keep taking your money.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I wrote about these issues a long time ago. I thought if enough people complained at the time, something would change. Look how that all turned out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/SD-1-683x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-718\" width=\"563\" height=\"844\" srcset=\"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/SD-1-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/SD-1-200x300.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/SD-1-768x1152.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/SD-1.jpeg 867w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 563px) 85vw, 563px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyhow, there was a point in time when I was actually enjoying myself. I was living in San Diego, California and I was going to California State University. I was getting a top notch education as far as state schools were concerned and I was paying practically nothing to go there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, what seems like nothing now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the people there had one rule really, they said if you want to do something, just step up and do it. You want to TEACH HERE? There&#8217;s a classroom full of students, have at it. You want to help make decisions for the department as a whole, here join this group\/ club. You want to read whatever you want and write whatever you want without boundaries? Hey, have at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You want to walk away from here with a well-rounded education including having studied basically every artform so you are more than<em> just an English Major<\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was wonderful, but short-lived. If I could do it over, I would have stayed. But it wasn&#8217;t possible at the time for me to live so far away from everything I knew. And despite all the people I met and the things I learned, it wasn&#8217;t where I grew up and it was lonely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before I write you an entire memoir just about this phase of my life&#8230;I want to get to the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The point is, people put too much pressure on themselves to be a certain kind of person, or have certain credentials so they can do what they love. End of the day, I spent too much time waiting for someone to tell me I was allowed to do something that I was already doing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was doing it at 17 years old. If I could do it then, you can do it now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So pretend you are going to Cal-State-Freewheelin&#8217;-U, and I am your professor and I say to you, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You want to be a writer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you know anything about me, you might know I&#8217;m not super enthusiastic about the state of higher education. I actually haven&#8217;t been a fan for about a decade or so, and yet, all of my whinging hasn&#8217;t made much of a difference. I&#8217;m not in a position to make those decisions, and make changes-and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/07\/why-i-was-an-english-major\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Why I Was an English Major&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":730,"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amymarieayres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}