"You Can Do Anything With an English Major!"

     Yesterday, I attended the, “You Can Do Anything With an English Major” event, hosted by the Writing and Literature Major of the English department; which our Professor said, basically featured guest speakers who discussed the ways in which being an English major helped them with their career paths and achieve their goals. Unfortunately, I missed the first half of the event, when a majority of the speakers shared their stories. However, I was there for one story by Professor Hector Fernandez. He was discussing how being an English major, helped him on his journey throughout law school. Employers and individuals who looked at his qualifications liked the fact that he had essential writing skills; something that is greatly beneficial. He also made a career out of banking before becoming a business advisor at LaGuardia Community College and running his own paralegal program. Just with his story, it is evident that it served the purpose of this event in the first place; to demonstrate how an English major can provide different career paths, instead of positions people may associate it with such as being an English teacher or an author. I thought it was interesting how this major can come in handy for many employers; and know that it doesn’t set an absolute strict limit on what you want to do.

     Moreover, there were a lot of advice shared among the panel of speakers and questions asked, that I will pass along myself.  The topic of books was mentioned and it seemed like all the speakers had something significant to say in regards to how they personally feel about them. Books were described as a way to transcend into another world to better understand different types of cultures and a great way to network or start a random conversation. Some suggested titles were, “Angry Black White Boy”, by Adam Mansbach and “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was advised that if one becomes a writer, to market yourself and manage your money because if you make a huge profit like J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter series, you have to know what to do with it or else you’ll end up with nothing.

     Overall, this presentation was very informative. Some things that I took away with me and what others may find useful is to stop doubting, reach high and to absorb as much information as possible while I’m still in school. A major point I think they were trying to convey is that, English may not be a popular choice of major but there are opportunities out there. Also, it not about English, it’s really about the skills you develop and how you choose to use them that truly matters; which is a mindset that can be applied to any major you choose to declare.