If you told my mom about 17 years ago that I would grow up to major in English, she would have thought you were crazy. When most kids my age were talking, I wasn’t saying a word. Terrified that I might have a learning disability, my mom took me to the doctor, who cryptically remarked, “Oh, he’s one of those.” My mom discovered what she meant soon enough. One day, when I was more than two years old, I suddenly started talking in full sentences. Apparently, I had been waiting to talk until I had a firm enough grasp on language to speak fluently.
As a child, I read non-stop. If I didn’t have a book on hand at the breakfast table, I would read the cereal box in front of me. I cunningly realized that reading was a form of procrastination my parents wouldn’t get mad at me for. In school, I was always good at English, though my grades may not have shown it. Years of constantly having a face gave me the ability to write well and comprehend advanced texts. It was in class participation that I truly shined, and I did well on essays (always with a point deduction for lateness – time management was not my strong suit). Sophomore year of high school, my English teacher recommended me for AP English not because I had the grades for it, but because he “had to.”
I decided to major in English for a number of reasons. I want to recapture the love of reading that I seemed to lose in high school. I would love to end up in theatre or comedy or television, and I would be equally pleased to be on the performing or the writing end. I regard writing as one of the highest forms of self-expression; it is so intimate, so immersive. Crafting one’s ideas until they are sufficiently polished as to be shared with an audience is highly appealing.
Additionally, I believe that majoring in English will result in a more well-rounded education that will lend greater flexibility to my career path. Given the nature of English class, and all the connections it requires you to make, I hope to experience the “broad-based education that formed part of the general development of [a] student (Interdisciplinarity p. 9).”