If you know me well, you know that I haven't been an English major for too long now. Up until last semester, I was majoring in biochemistry, but after two years of school and two years in Ukraine to think it all out, I finally got over my fears and decided to chase my dreams of becoming a writer. That's another story, the end of which is yet untold, but the transition from chemistry major to English major has brought about a remarkable transformation in the way that people relate to me and react to my choice of major. This is a change which, I feel, deserves a moment's notice.Situation 1
"What are you studying?"
"Biochemistry."
"WOAH! You must be really smart then. I couldn't handle something like that."
Situation 2
"What are you studying?"
"English."
(Understanding look, as if to say, "Oh, you're one of those kinds of guys...")
"Oh... Cool... What are you going to do with that?"
"I want to be writer."
"Oh... that's great..." (almost invariably spoken with a poorly-masked look of sympathy or worry)
Situation 3
"What are you studying?"
"Well, I just switched from biochemistry to English."
"WHY?"
It is, in these new-found moments of awkwardness, that I have pondered that age old question: "To B.A. or not to B.A.?" That is the question.
It is, I suppose, a commonly-known fact that a B.S. is of greater worth and importance than a B.A. It is equally understood that declaring a chemistry major makes you instantly more intelligent than someone in the humanities and that English majors don't have any potential for a future career, so I can understand people's confusion upon hearing of my switch.
The thing is, it's not about your major. It's not about what letters follow your name when at last you are freed from your four to twelve years of formal education. It's not about the diploma that hangs on your wall and which no one can really read anyway because it's written in an archaic font. You can pretty much do whatever you want with your life, as long as you're willing to sacrifice to get there. I feel like a lot of people suffer through their schooling, jumping through all the right hoops and hating every moment of it. I've been in all the science classes full of pre-med students who loath their studies, and I'm acquainted with a fair number of English majors who read but fifteen pages of a 500-page assignment just so they can get a paper done, as if education were something that you could check off on a list.
I like chemistry, and I I'm good at it too, but if I'm going to be doing something the rest of my life, Monday through Friday and sometimes Saturdays too, it better be something that I love, something that I wouldn't have to force myself to enjoy. So, I write. And I read. And I ponder. And I think. And I love it.
Being a relatively close friend, I can tell how happy being and English major makes you. You are always excited to learn and are able to go the extra mile and take your learning beyond the classroom and expand it to a multiplicity of areas. I admire the way that you approach your learning.
ReplyDeleteSome things that you said really struck me. I am an individual who tries to pack my schedule with a million things to do and I never seem to make time to ponder in depth what I am learning. My life has been stuck in a box. I always say I want to get out, but something drives me to take one more class or work one more job. It is ridiculous. I want to double major in Political Science and English and my schedule is always full and I never take time to breathe. I feel so happy being busy and being forced to always think and act, but I seemingly get burned out. It really needs to change.
The BYU-I learning model really outlines how learning can exalt us, rather than just get us through this life. Without revelation, or divine knowledge, we could not be saved according to Joseph Smith. Every type of knowledge we gain from the best books leads us closer to that God who gave us life. He knows all things and we, in order to become like Him, must learn all that we can. True leaning only will come if we love it and invest our time, efforts, and talents in enlightening our minds and spirits. It is human nature to give time to the things we like. The quest for knowledge needs to be fulfilling and if it is not, we are only wasting our time.
I found at one point in my life that I was running all over the place trying to get things done and that in the process, I wasn't enjoying a bit of it and wasn't doing all that great a job of it either. We talked about Mosiah 4 today in Sunday School, and verse 27 has always been an anchor for me:
ReplyDelete"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."
When I feel like I can't figure out life or that I am overwhelmed with the tasks that I've taken on, I remember that Christ, too, had His forty days in the wilderness to figure out who He was and what He was to do. It is often in those moments of quiet self-reflection and searching that we come to the greatest and most profound revelations.
Greggie-Pooh!
ReplyDeletePlease add an easy-to-click-on "Follow" button to your blog! I had to go it old school and paste your URL feed into my "Subscribe" window in Reader. Not everyone is as dedicated to you as I am, LOL.
<3,
your 2nd-favorite sista
La, the Follow button is at the top of the page, but I added another one just for you, beneath the blog archive. :)
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