In the “How I chose my major” series, we showcase the academic paths CSU students have taken, and students tell their stories in their own words. Read on to meet Anaïs , an English major, and learn how she decided it was the perfect path for her college career and far beyond.
As a third-generation English major, my whole life pointed me toward this path. Starting within a week of my birth, my parents read to me every night before bed, and many of my earliest memories are of drifting to sleep to the sound of their voices.
In third grade, I discovered the joys of reading on my own when I began the Magic Tree House book series, which captivated me like nothing I’d read before. From then on, practically all I did was read. In high school, I took all the AP and honors English classes that were available, and found a passion for writing as well as reading.
Despite the fact that English was both what I loved the most and what I was the best at in school, I was very resistant to choosing English as a college major. “With that major, you’re definitely gonna be poor,” my friends had said. “Really your only job option is teaching,” adults had cautioned. Everybody else seemed to be going into STEM fields, and bragged about how they would be sure to get high-paying jobs right out of college.
At the time, I was in AP psychology, and, though I hated every science class I’d taken, I began to think that psych might be a better option. Maybe everyone was right, maybe choosing English was stupid. But as I started going on campus tours, I found myself unable to stop asking questions about the English departments. I started to think that maybe I should prioritize what I loved and was good at, rather than forcing myself to suffer through a whole bunch of STEM classes just so I wouldn’t “be poor.”
Nobody encouraged this more than my dad, who told me, “Good writers are always going to be needed. With an English major, you can do anything.” Eventually, I decided to follow my heart and choose English. This choice was affirmed on my first day of college, when I went to all my English classes and felt absolutely at home there.
Getting to do what I loved every day for four years made me so excited for college. My decision to be an English major has been reaffirmed every day since. Now, as a graduating senior, I can honestly say I wouldn’t have it any other way. I now know that there are many more job options than being a teacher, and I’m interested in pursuing careers like editing, publishing, or technical writing in the future. Even if I don’t end up in any of those fields, I know that my writing skills will help me in any job I have.
So, if you’re thinking about being an English major, I encourage you not to listen to those voices of doubt. Choose the major that feels right to you, and I promise your college experience will be much more interesting and enjoyable.
Anaïs (she/her) is an English major with a double concentration in Writing, Rhetoric, & Literacy and Creative Writing. She is also an Interdisciplinary Arabic Studies minor and co-founded the Arabic Culture and Language Club on campus. Anaïs is a member of the Dead Poets Society club and works as an Admissions Ambassador through the Office of Admissions. After graduation, Anaïs hopes to pursue a career where she gets to read and write, or maybe even teach English as a second or foreign language, thus following the prophecy of the random adults who told her that was her only option back in high school.
