Dear Jess,
I am having a hard time choosing what to major in when going to a four year college. On one hand I am a potential English Major because I like to read and write and think I could get along well working in that field. On the other hand there is the Fine Arts Major. I'm taking Art Metals right now and liking the class, and I would like to continue taking the art metals sequence of classes.
The drawback to both degrees is that I would have to get a Master's Degree in either of them to find work in my field of choice. As a Fine Art major I would have to teach freshman drawing classes while getting my Masters in art. I can't draw to save my life. Sometimes I'll catch lightning in a jar and crank out a good drawing, but those are few and far between. I also don't have the room where I live to set up a workspace for what I want to do in art. Then there is the whole thing where I am not disciplined enough to work on an art project to my satisfaction. I was never that comfortable in my art classes that I took. There's always that one student that is only in a fine art class to flirt with the opposite/same sex instead of working on their project. They just waste their time and are taking the place of someone who could be in the class and doing work. I don't think that would be true in an English class where you don't have people coming in and out of the classroom all the time. I also have a bit of an inferiority complex when I look at my classmates drawings or metal projects and see they have made something that is leaps and bounds ahead of me. As an English major I could teach freshman composition classes while getting my Master's. On the other hand, I am not disciplined enough to sit down and attempt to write something every day. Although with writing I can sit anywhere with a notebook and writing implement and crank out ideas for stories, essays or poems. I'd be much more at home somewhere I can sit down and crank out a short story or another chapter in my novel; or I could sit down with a book and read to my heart's content. I could teach at a community college level as an adjunct once I graduate and hopefully get the people that are in my classes to think more about what they read and not just take it at face value. You hear the jokes on television sitcoms or stand-up comics talk about both English and Fine Art being useless majors in the working world. I can kind of see that with Fine Art, but English, I don't think so. Who helps those stand-ups write their jokes and who cranks out the scripts for sitcoms? They are someone who has at least some background in English.
- Stuck in a Major Mess,
Dallas, TX
Dear Mess,
I have gotten quite a few tough questions during the many incarnations of this column and I must say this one is one of the hardest. There are some serious downsides to both that you aren't considering. You're also leaving out some of potential benefits. Let's start with the being an English major. You'll get some fun assigned reading there: George Orwell, J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King along with translations of authors like Alexander Dumas and Miguel Cervantes. Any four year school that doesn't teach an entire course on my personal hero Samuel L. Clemens isn't even worth attending. The problem is you'll also have to put up with some of the worst writers that have somehow managed to get published professionally. People like Henry James, Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson and that overrated hack William Shakespeare. The best thing he ever wrote was the 1956 MGM classic Forbidden Planet starring Leslie Nielsen and Robbie the Robot.
Now on to being an art major: You mentioned that you didn't want to be the one who shows up for class just to hit on members of the sex of your interest. You're missing the upside. In today's economy most colleges can't afford to hire models. So if you're a straight male there is a chance that Katie- the girl in your class who is oh so hot but just a little too young for you- will need to get extra credit by posing nude. And I say her name is Katie because yeah, THAT girl even if she's older than 19 which is the age where most women change over to Kate or Katherine- still goes by Katie and probably will till the day she dies.
Ultimately though, I have to say go with being an English major. You admit you have zero talent when it comes to drawing so you're the one more likely to need the extra credit. You're better off reading The Scottish Play than you would be if you let Katie see your junk while she's sober.
Jess
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