Why I'm an English Major

Quick note: I started this post last semester after countless moments when I was reminded why I am an English major. Of course, last semester got away from me and this post sat unfinished. After my amazing day (which I'll describe in the next blog post), I decided I needed to finish this post up to give my readers a little background to understand why today (1/29) was so out of this world.

I remember when I was in high school and reached the stage where I wanted to know what I was going to major in. I wanted to have some direction in my life and I figured picking out a major was the easiest way to find that path.

I had several ideas on what I wanted to do. People told me I could be the next president of the United States (Fargo 2028?), I could teach, I could write, or I could do whatever I set my mind to.

Lots of options.

But nothing really sparked my interest. Sure, I had wanted to be a teacher when I was younger but I grew out of that as the years went on. All I really knew was that I loved to read, loved the library, and loved to write in notebooks. What could I do with that?

I wavered back and forth between a major. Business administration was practical, financial degrees ran in my family, I loved writing, and English was my favorite subject in high school.

English seemed the most logical. It allowed me to do what I loved, aka read books and discuss them with other book lovers like myself. It also required me to write papers, lots of them, tapping into another strength of mine.

So English it was. It took me my first year at Coe to really cement that choice. I was fortunate enough to take excellent introductory English classes that not only allowed me to meet the faculty but also fall in love again with literature. My first semester I took African American Literature, discovering Gwendolyn Brooks and Colson Whitehead. Second semester tested me even more with British Renaissance Literature. That class was taught by Gina Hausknecht, who had just recently become my English department advisor. Gina pushed me in that class and I spent countless hours in her office, going over my papers, finding ways to improve them, and discussing the poetry to better understand it. This class is still influencing me today, considering the sonnet form is my favorite type of poetry.

These classes, along with Honors Composition my second semester confirmed English was my path. And so I continued on my merry way. Every semester, especially last fall, I had these moments of clarity. Sometimes it was in the middle of class when I made a connection I hadn't thought of before. Sometimes it was in Brewed or the Writing Center, as I recapped a class period with fellow English majors or even my professor. And sometimes it was while I was studying, when I finished a particularly good book or finished writing a paper.

This confirmation was paired with my continual love of libraries. My first "real" job was working at my public library. I helped with the summer library reading program and loved it. My second semester at Coe I worked at the Stewart Memorial Library. Sure, it was just being a clerk but it allowed me to see a different kind of library, a college level academic library.

Now while I love college kids, I also really missed working with younger kids, teens, and families. Through these experiences, I decided on pursing a library science degree in youth/teen services post Coe. Now, I'm ready for changes to be made, especially with my experience in New York, but this is my current plan.

Continue reading my next post to see how much fun I had in the Bronx!