My Thoughts on Pursuing a BA in English

I’ve got three words. DON’T DO IT!!

Back in 2014, when I decided to change my major to English no one could have convinced me to do otherwise. Many people asked, “well what will you do with that degree.  You need to choose something that will make your college investment more worthwhile.” I didn’t listen and boy, has it backfired and in a bad way. I struggled getting internships during my college career. Even during the time thereafter, I could not find a job after actually graduating. If I got a job in New York, it would not be worth the stress of commute, commuter costs, double taxation and the plain old hustle and bustle.

They say it is not what you know but who you know especially in these economic times. Unfortunately, as much as this is believable I have found it truly depends on the individual’s circumstances. I am one of the most social people out here that any one of you could know but it hasn’t helped me. It could be due to people’s jealousy or personal lives but I haven’t had the help that I expected to get. It’s amazing how many contacts I thought I had but who weren’t there when I needed them the most. Reference letters from former professors that I had formed bonds with helped me to an extent to get into grad school but no one actually helped me find an actual job.

All this being said, I would say it’s much better to do an English minor rather than a English degree. I’ve definitely benefited from the writing courses I took at my college in terms of improving my writing but it came at a price. I currently work part time job that has nothing to do with my degree. On the plus side, I have 20 hours of the week to dedicate to writing. I am still hoping that I make it big some day and write that #1 best seller. Just thought I’d reaffirm what has already been said out here. Sometimes it pays to listen to the warning messages from others.

Maybe it’s just my current state of mind right now, but I’m really disappointed in myself. I can’t help thinking maybe I should have chosen a different road than the path I’ve already embarked on.

The Importance of Writing

Today, I found an excellent Ted Talk which is below this short blog post. This was perfectly timed as I’ve recently been getting excessive pains during short periods of writing by hand. It’s not like I write 10 pages by hand. It will only be 1 and 1/2 at the most.  Totally not normal. I’m feeling like maybe I don’t write using my hands enough even though I try to. The muscles used in the writing process could just be going stagnant since I’m turning to typing more frequently these days.

There’s something about handwriting that you just don’t get with online writing. When you hand-write you choose your own paper, the design of your notebook and even utilize your special pen. When you write digitally,your fingers bounce off the keyboard and you perform your own auto correct as you go along. (I feel like this may contribute to the fact that a lot of people don’t proofread what they write.) The positive aspect is that there are really cool templates when it comes to blogging and quicker feedback from people throughout the globe. Other than that, there isn’t much more gained. Things can get lost online through website crashes, viruses and technology failures.

Unless you get water or fire damage, things written by hand are much more secure in their preservation. Think about all the original documents still preserved in the White House today or throughout different museums. Why are we abandoning this ancient technique? Imagine if the Bill of Rights was saved on a USB years ago and James Madison broke it while pulling it out his laptop (just a scenario) there would be no record of it today unless it was saved elsewhere. I don’t know. Both digital and handwriting techniques have faults but I still love handwriting more. ❤

 

Why I Write!

(an expansion on my poem on homepage)

When I first thought about this question, many things came to my mind. I summed it up to the main terms of relaxation ,meditation, amusement, inspiration, communication, therapy, documentation and education.

However, why I write is not so simply defined by these mere words alone. It’s too deep to be defined. It can only be explained and shown through the power of my words. Alot of why I write has to do about me: hearing me, listening to me, understanding me and feeling me. Me,Me,Me,Me.

During my times of despair and loneliness, I feel like just sitting down and thinking. Most times it’s during a walk in nature with a small bag of food, my phone turned off, my keys, my purse and my favorite journal and pen. I sit down on a bench and reach for my journal adorned with the motivational quote:

DREAM If you can dream it, you can ACHIEVE it

and a sparkly blue pen. As I start to write, I feel my innermost parts breaking down to the smallest particles that exist within me. I begin searching deep inside perhaps for that God particle to understand everything even though I may never know. I write to find the answers to answer the questions that come to me both in private and public. As I search for those answers, my thoughts, beliefs and feelings arise. Sometimes I feel motivated by my own words as they appear on the page of my journal.

I sit and ponder

What does my spirit want to tell me?

What does God have to share with me?

I write when I can’t understand life, people and love. When my heart is full of sorrow or happiness, I need my heart to be able to cry out because of joy or sadness. My heart and soul needs to be heard. It’s a rare friend that exists who will want to hear my heart and soul 24/7.

In day to day existence, people rarely stop to actually listen to themselves not just the voice in their head. They hardly stop to sit down and feel. every. single. thing. that. makes. us. humans. I guess we now think that we are superhuman- inevitable. We can hide behind our masks of social media and be consumed by the television and internet for the rest of our lives.

I write to hear and connect with my soul and give my soul a voice. I write to actually be me and feel me. Writing allows me to record my progress in my life journey.

This is why I write:

To grow- personally (spirit, body and mind wiser)

To Create- a living record and explore new realities, dreams and fantasies

To Capture- my epiphanies

And that my friend is the power of the pen.