why i majored in english

You all knew it was coming: my Tragic Backstory™. Just kidding. Though I do want to give my readers a portrait of Elizabeth-the-Young-Writer-and-Reader, I will save the self-pity and lengthy descriptions for another day. This is going to be a (hopefully brief) account of my journey to becoming an English Major, a story I have perfected throughout the past few years.

Ever since I can remember, I have always loved to read and write and tell stories and express myself creatively. I would create my own little books about cats and the struggles of middle school and flowers who could talk. I stole giant wads of paper from our printer and bound them together with staples. Because I never finished any of my projects, my mom eventually had to tell me I couldn't make any new books until I finished the old ones.

Being homeschooled was also a great advantage. My education was centered around the liberal arts, and I had plenty of books to read. My mom read aloud to me and three of my brothers for several of our classes, including history, geography, and English. Then we would read supplemental material on our own. My dad also read aloud to us. Some of my best childhood memories include listening to The Hobbit and Rocket Boys with my brothers.

As I grew older, I became more confident in my identity as a reader and writer. My parents had nicknamed me "Future English Major," and I agreed. Though there was definitely a phase in middle school during which I barely read, I made it through with my love of language and literature in tact. I also began to realize how much I liked studying Spanish and how much I wanted to travel. I began to make plans to move to Spain or South America and spend my summers on backpacking trips. I was going to experience the world, darn it!

Sometime in high school, I started to doubt myself and my dream. I liked the idea of being an English Major, but I didn't know where it would lead. What kind of job could I get? How would I be able to travel if I lived in the States? I panicked and changed my mind. I wanted to study Spanish and become an ESL teacher. That way I could pursue my love of language and have an excuse to travel. English sounded great and all, but it just wasn't practical. I still wasn't 100% certain that my decision was right, but I had kind of resigned myself to it.

During my senior year of high school, I went to Messiah as a dual-enrolled student. I had visited during my junior year and decided that it was the place for me, mostly because of their study abroad program. (Side note: Visit more than one college before you commit. Don't do what I did.) I also liked how friendly everyone was when I visited, and, of course, it's close to home. But just to be sure, I wanted a trial run, so to speak.

For my first semester, I enrolled in Philosophy 101 (where I met my current roommate--hi, Hannah!!) and Post-Colonial Literature, an English Major course....even though I wasn't planning on majoring in English. The logic behind this was that I had already taken both AP Language and AP Literature the year before. However, I needed 4 years of English to graduate from high school. Instead of taking a 100-level course that was geared towards the literature general education requirement, I decided to take a 300-level to challenge myself. Somehow, there was no officially required pre-requisite to prevent me from enrolling, so I thought I was good to go. But when I walked into class on the first day and announced I was a senior in high school, everyone was a bit confused. You can guess how the professor of Post-Colonial Lit responded to this brilliant logic.

I made a (poor) argument to said professor that he should let me stay in the class, and he decided to take a chance on me (muchas gracias, Dr. Dzaka). During the first month, we read a bunch of literary theory and studied the history of the novel. Even though it took me a bit to adjust to the pace of the class, I was hooked. I felt like I had finally found my place. After a few weeks, I decided that I would declare a major in English when I enrolled at Messiah as a full-time student. I realized that I didn't have to choose between Spanish and English, or between language and literature. I could do both! Studying English would allow me to use both my analytical skills and my creative vision, to read critically and write in a variety of styles. Studying Spanish would allow me to continue my journey to becoming a polyglot, study abroad, and learn about other cultures. TESOL... well, let's just say I'm still figuring that one out.

I don't think anyone knows what they're doing in their life from Day 1 at college. It's difficult to know what you love to do until you have more life experience. Taking classes in a variety of fields, studying abroad, immersing myself in different groups, talking to peers and professors, working in different areas--these have all gotten me to the place I am now. I am happy in my choices of study, my majors and minor. Even though I decided where I wanted to be earlier than most of my classmates, it's taken me a long time to get to a place where I'm confident about those decisions. There are times that I still second-guess my choices and my life path. But that's okay. I'm doing my best with what information I have to work with, and I'm confident that Jesus will lead me to the right place, even if it takes me a while to get there.

xx Liz

How did you decide what you wanted to do?