During my middle school and high school days I was a novel junkie. I could easily read three 400+ page novels in a week. This love of reading then became a love of writing. While my friends loathed an assigned essay, I relished the idea because it would allow me to do the thing that I was most fond of. Since I had nothing else in which I particularly excelled at, nor anything that I had a deep enough interest in at the time; I focused my future on the fact that I loved to read and write.
As you can imagine this meant that when it was time to decide on college my instinct was to go into the English department. This of course concerned my parents who would have rather I went into medicine or engineering, which is kind of ridiculous if you ask me. Why would they expect their child whom had not previously shown any inclination towards either medicine or engineering to go into those fields?
Money. They figured that because both of those fields would result in me making plenty of money that that is the path I should be taking, even if it was a path that would make their more literary child miserable. It is really sad that so many people are pushed towards a future by their parents based solely on the monetary value.
In my case money, may have been an emphasized issue because both my parents are immigrants from Latin American countries. All they knew was hard work and cared only about making enough money to support their family. Because of this I entertained them for a little bit by telling them all the while getting my AA that I would think about becoming a doctor or an engineer.
I am sure other English majors can relate to the disappointment they can feel coming from the people that raised them. It’s not that we wouldn’t like to make a bunch of money one day. It’s just common knowledge that an English degree will most likely not result in a six figure pay check. If anything people should respect us for taking a path that means struggle.
Where my parents were relieved is that I got out of my head really quickly after graduating high school that I wanted to be a creative writing major. Even I could see where that would lead to me being destitute with a useless degree. No offense to creative writing majors. I just knew that I did not believe in myself enough to be able to make it through a degree and then bank on writing America’s next bestseller.
I considered specializing in library science to be a librarian then realized I didn’t have it in me shush people all day. Literature also struck my fancy, until I actually hung out with some literature majors. Some of the most pretentious people I had ever met. Not being a snob, I felt as though I just wouldn’t fit into that niche community.
Searching through the major lists that The Florida State University offered I discovered editing, writing, and media. I had immediately fallen for it when I read the description on the FSU website:
“It still preserves the traditional core of English, the creation and interpretation of texts, by combining practice in writing and editing with the study of cultural history and criticism. However, it transforms both writing practice and critical study to confront the new challenges of digital technology, visual culture, and the Internet. The EWM major is aimed at students with career interests in writing, publishing, and electronic media but who want more than just a job editing a corporate newsletter or composing jacket copy for cookbooks. The EWM track aims to prepare students for leadership roles in 21st century culture, whether as intellectuals pursuing advanced degrees in book history, rhetoric, and critical theory or as tech-savvy professionals equipped with editorial expertise and writing skill. EWM is not just a degree: It is a vision of the future of texts.”
I felt as though this was definitely the major for me. It allow me to work with texts as well as utilize my ability to write. And because of the media element it would allow me to enter the digital market which is ever expanding.
Being an EWM major just makes sense if you’re dead set on joining the English department. Even having it as a minor would be extremely beneficial. Every industry requires someone to write out documents, construct webpages, mange social media, edit manuscripts, and promote print publishing. The editing, writing, and media major prepares students for all of that and more.
Even creative writing and literature majors would have to admit that the EWM track is a catch all because EWM majors utilize their love of reading and writing. This means that you can still do creative writing as well as read the classics for this major if that is what you want.
If you want to be able to say that you are in the English department without everyone cringing, tell them that you are an EWM major because that is where the money is, because it is where reading and writing is applicable to the job market.
