An addendum to our classroom discussion concerning English majors...

I have to say that although our classroom discussion about the widely perceived career limitations of English majors was frustratingly truthful, it allowed me to feel some sort of camaraderie with my fellow classmates. I can't tell you how many times I've been at a social gathering surrounded by career driven people and that same personal question is fired followed by the same artificial conversation:

Random person: "So what do you do?" (As my fiance is much older than me and people naturally assume that I, too, am involved in the commercial world, this is usually a topic of interest among any person in a given social setting.)

Me (annoyed): "I'm actually just finishing up my Bacherlor's at Lamar.

Random person: "Oh, I see. What are you studying?"

Me: "English with a concentration in writing."

Random person: "So you're going to teach?" (This response NEVER fails from leaving their mouths.)

Me (further annoyed): "NOOOOOO!" (I want to scream. Really loud.)

Fellow English majors, I know you must feel my pain. Since when did a person's preferred discipline become limiting in what he/she can do for a career choice? This repartee is exhausting and increasingly frustrating.

It's funny to me that in the world where almost anything goes, people still have this antiquated mindset on the limitations of having a liberal arts degree. Why? Also interesting is my pondering over whether or not they know how ignorant they sound in my mind, and how infuriating their assumptions are.

Instead of firing back at them with a completely sarcastic and shocking response like "No actually I'm going to be an exotic dancer for a while," which would definitely raise some eyebrows, but at least leave them with a lasting impression, I would like to explain that just because I am studying a liberal subject does not mean that I am automatically going to become a teacher. While I still am not quite sure of my career path, I do know that it's not limited just because of my discipline.

My next subject: how blogs can be used as a "venting space..." :)