I've decided!

After a few months of thought, employing my meager imagination to chart as many possibilities as possible I have decided what to major in college as! And as such, what to do with my life ahead of me.

I have to admit that I have no real talent in anything. Average is the word to best describe everything about me. Average looks, average height, intelligence, average skills at everything.
Some are born, and I guess how they are raised dictate what they are good at. Some play sports from an early age, and aquire some modicum of skill at that sport. Some are good with figures, and facts, and grow up to be great mathmaticians and scientists. Some aquire remarkable grammar and spelling skills at an early age, and grow up as writers, journalists and authors.

Myself? Nothing. I didn’t play sports, I did poorly at school, I didn’t even grow up a good christian like my parents wanted me to. I read often, that is about all. Unfortunately I have piss poor grammar. I have often been told this, so I know it is true. My spelling is sub-human as well- downright Cro-magnan.

In spite of this, I have decided to choose-

Drumroll

English Major.

Unfortunately the community colleges around here do not have Associates degrees in English, so I will have to take single classes.
Why a community college? Well, my grades in school were, well, pathetic, so a community college will give me some background to show to a university, and eventually a graduate school. (looking to get a Masters at minimum)
What I need to do now is look up what sort of classes I need to take at my community college so that I am assured they will transfer over. What I don’t know is what university I will eventually attend, due to my poor high school record, and I will probably have to take whatever university is gracious enough to accept me. Do all English programs require the same classes for graduation?

I know, many of you are no doubt looking at my post, judging me by my writing style, grammar, and syntax or whatnot, shaking your heads and “knowing” that I will never get anywhere in the field. Posh I say, I am capable of changing my heathen, poor grammar ways, and walking away a changed man. It certainly offeres more opportunity than my other “dreamjob” in Neurobiology or as a cognitive psychologist- I simply don’t have the analytical intelligence to do even moderately well in those fields.

Oh well, thought I would share this mundane, pointless stuff. :wink:

Have you considered animal husbandry?

Seriously, good luck.

Animal Husbandry eh? Not really into that I must admit. I prefer human females. :stuck_out_tongue:

Epimetheus – use community college to get good grades and take care of your “general ed” requirements (or whatever they call them these days) – most colleges require x number of courses in math, science, history, social sciences, etc., in addition to the courses in your major. These credits will probably transfer over – but you might want to get info from a state college as to what they require. You can use these credits also to bring up your grades and prove that you’re now serious about school.

Congratulations on your decision! Have fun with it! College – even community college – is a great opportunity to get exposed to all kinds of cool stuff you’d never have an opportunity to think about otherwise.

I knew a guy in college who majored in animal husbandry…until they caught him at it one day…

courtesy of Tom Lehrer

Practice saying: “Do you want fries with that?”

Just kidding, follow your heart and good luck.

You sound vaguely like I did 27 years ago at the age of 17. In all honesty if you truly have no demonstrated talent, inclination or “fire in the belly” as a writer to date and your objective is to acquire very high level skills in composition I feel obliged to inform you that the task you have set yourself is likely to end in tears of frustration. You’re not fooling anyone. I know exactly what you are trying to do. You are trying to duck as much math as possible and still get a degree.

A natural talent you obviously do have is a postive “can do” attitude despite past failures, a willingness to succeed and a good ability to communicate. I might suggest majoring in business with an eye toward sales and marketing. Most business math is not that ordinately complex and a business degree will normally give you more entry level opportunities across the board than an English degree, even into areas that aren’t necessarily “business” oriented. If you work hard you can make an excellent living and an added benefit is that generally the English majors wind up working for you in one way or another.

Don’t be stupid about your skills. Play to your strengths.

Well, I have wanted to be a sci-fi/fantasy writer since 9th grade. I have not always written, or have wrote all my life, but I certainly have a desire to write.
I think the written language is beautiful, wonderful and awe-inspiring. The possibilities of the written word are overwhelming, and I so love a cleverly manipulated sentance.
I feel I have an innate talent (who doesn’t), but something that isn’t used atrophies. My fear is that my innate talent is stunted from disuse is all.

I am not sure I can live without at least the dream of being a writer. I certainly have no desire to just “get by” on a job, picking something economical sounds great, but dismal. What use in life without passion, and a job that I am not passionate about scares me. I might as well stick to my 30k a year job in the factory. I at least know I like (or find amusing) the people I currently work with.

I think I would rather live a life of frustration and poverty and try to work a job that is my life, than go in everyday to a job that I would no doubt resent, drowning in mediocraty and living a false dream. If anything when my time comes I can remember the part in that Monty Python song-

You come from nothing, and go back to nothing- what have you lost… Nothing!!

[sub]copyright Eric Idle, Monty Python’s Bright side of life[/sub]

Sigh…never mind. I take it all back. Follow Your Dream!!

Did you every doubt me? :smiley:

I did give it a great deal of thought. I have contemplated going to school for quite some time now. On the order of almost a year. What for I did not know, so I considered my options. This was taking into consideration that I would write as a hobby, and do my reasonable 50k+ year a job, living the Americian dream.
I thought of quite a few things, and even asked opinions on this message board. I contemplated Computer programming, but realized that it was a very competative market, and I am not that type of guy. (suit and tie type of guy, trying tosell myself like some cyber slut)

I started another thread, pretty recently (3-4 months?) asking about colleges and such. I started thinking Anthropology, or some other type of social science. I read and read up on different occupations, and using the 2002 Occupational handbook online I weighed economical angles on how much schooling vs how much pay, vs how much of my life would be left for my passion.

The best thing I could come up with is an English major or a Journalist major. You see, I dropped my fear of thinking I would be mentally wore out, and not feel like working on my book. With a career centered around writing, it would open neural pathways and make me better at writing, practice makes perfect. It would help form the mental mindset and discipline necessary for me to be the best writer I can.

I don’t totally disregard your words of wisdom though, I appreciate them. I have back up plans- Take a minor in education, learn to speak Spanish or another language fluently and live out the country for a few years teaching English to foreigners. Sounds adventerous, dangerous, and fun!! Or I could be a freelance writer, take some courses in Exercise Physiology and write articles in a bodybuilding magazine writing junk science on how such and such protien powder will make somebody huge. LOL (kidding here)
So many possibilities, and I am not afraid of living in a hovel. The experience matters to me, any experience, bad or good can be the inspiration or the key that helps me be a better writer. Hell, I don’t want to be normal! I want to be adventerous, live the high life.

Seems to me having a strong background in English and writing can help me be flexable all over the world. And It might help me get published. Even one book published and I will die a happy man. A complete man.

Preview, preview!! (thumps head into table several times) Don’t mind those spelling errors, I have not yet mastered the skills of revision. :stuck_out_tongue:

Kurt Vonnegut once worked as a flack for GE. So did Ronald Reagan.

There’s a lesson in there somewhere, but I’m lazy…

Go for it!

[sub]Can you draw? There’s always room for another cartoonist, and getting published is much easier :smiley: [/sub]

Does it count if my mother is the only person that said I have talent for drawing?

What is a flack for GE?- I am almost too afraid to ask.

You’re making more now than you possibly would be after you graduate college anyway. If you can get your entire degree via night courses or online courses while you continue to hold down your job, do it, but don’t expect to get a better job once you graduate college – the job you have now is better than the first (or second, or third) job many people have right out of college.

If you can handle spending a few years living with a beat-up junker in an infested sinkhole working for barely above minimum wage, do it and follow your dreams. The job you have right now sounds a lot better than that.

Flack - Public Relations agent/front man/spokesperson “Why yes, we did kill those kids, but look how nice and clean our parking lot is!”

GE - General Electric Corporation - the epitome of greed and advarice. IMHO.

Geez, with as much advice on to give up the idea of making it on an English Major, I am starting to develop some anxiety. :slight_smile:

Well, I won’t give up the Idea about me writing as a hobby, I suppose I will take some advice and re-think my position on the English field. If it is so hard to get a decent paying job, for bright guys out there, I suppose it will be expodentially hard on a not-so-bright guy like me.

Perhaps I will consider a degree in the medical sciences, specifically in the exercise or nutrition field. Kinesiology, Kinesotheropy, Physical Therepy, Athletic/strenght training or some such related field. I do enjoy weight training, nutrition, and find the human body to be fascinating- not sure how well of a career it would provide, but I am sure it would give me flexability to perhaps spend time in other countries as well. (or not, dunno)
I can minor in English, and write the next American Novel in my spare time. :smiley: :wink:

I was about to ask if you had considered studying something related to exercise or nutrition. Glad to see you’re considering that.

I don’t want to dissuade you from your dream, but…

I’ve got a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in English Lit. They have been no help whatsoever in finding employment (why this surprises me is a mystery). I’d suggest you major in something practical that will help you find employment, and get a MINOR in English. Because frankly, getting English degrees will not help you become a writer. What a writer needs is the kind of basic structure-of-fiction knowledge and such that one can get from a minor in English, plus experience living and working among people in the real world.

Piling up English degrees prepares you for one job, which is to teach in an English department. And once you’ve done that for a few years (as I did), it will be painfully apparent that academia is about as far from the real world as it’s possible to get. You will be prepared to churn out awful, discursive works of metafiction that no one but English professors is interested in reading, in the style of Don DeLillo.

As a final point, I’ll mention that very, very few professional writers majored in English. Kurt Vonnegut, to go back to his example, majored in Chemistry at Cornell.

Seriously. A minor will be enough to get you started, but not enough to warp you.

No you fool, you don’t get married, you’re the one DOING the marring. That and a lot of times you can handle the divorces too. :slight_smile:

In reality though I would say just take a bunch of courses. I wanted to be a History major when I started college. I ended up a Geography major and have no regrets about it. The funny thing is that when I went to school I got a packet from the Geography dept. I thought to myself what the hell could I do with a degree in that? You might find you enjoy something in the stragest place.

Oh! I watch that on TV- Animal Divorce Court. Gets vicious sometimes, especially those Inter-species marriages.
I saw this one where an Antelope and a Hyena hooked up and… oh, well I digress…

Hmm, If I majored in what interested me I would have to major in just about everything! I find so much interesting it is hard to say what I find MORE interesting. I’m one of those permenately 5 yrs old and curious about the world type of guys. Oo, shiny, I must learn more!! Must have!