Going to College for Creative Writing
It is almost the end of the semester, where students nervously scramble to get ready for finals and question all their life choices. Yep, it's that time of year. So this has been my first year of going back to college, and I'll admit, choosing to rack up debt for Creative Writing has been a scary choice to make. I cannot say at this point if it will be worth it, nor can I advise it for other people. It's my risk to take.
Most people in my field of interest usually go for an English major. I was fortunate enough to find a university that had a program more dedicated to writing, but I noticed an issue in that program. We all know the problem about English majors. There are very little job opportunities, and writers seldom become successful in their writing and instead opt to be an English teacher or something similar. Not good paying jobs or jobs with future promise, to say the least. So I decided I would perhaps go for Creative Writing, and save myself the fate of becoming a school teacher. A conversation with my adviser, however; suggested that universities are already prepared for young writers to fall back on teaching, not building their brand as writers. In the Creative Writing program at my university, for example, requires that I have to take a minor in English. According to my adviser, this is to make my degree seem more viable to jobs such as teaching, in case writing doesn't work out. I understand based on statistical success rates, that it may be necessary, but it still is unfortunate. I don't think other fields are already preparing for their students' failure to such an extent.
As of now, I think I am going to go for a degree in Marketing with a minor in writing instead. See where that takes me. One thing that I notice about many writers, is that they can be unwilling or afraid to try different things. I know we have a tendency to be introverted and like to stay in our little bubbles, but the world is a big place. Of course writing to our own interests is the main goal, but there are many other avenues of writing and expressing our creativity. Sometimes we just have to bite the bullet.
~Alyxandra Sarik
Most people in my field of interest usually go for an English major. I was fortunate enough to find a university that had a program more dedicated to writing, but I noticed an issue in that program. We all know the problem about English majors. There are very little job opportunities, and writers seldom become successful in their writing and instead opt to be an English teacher or something similar. Not good paying jobs or jobs with future promise, to say the least. So I decided I would perhaps go for Creative Writing, and save myself the fate of becoming a school teacher. A conversation with my adviser, however; suggested that universities are already prepared for young writers to fall back on teaching, not building their brand as writers. In the Creative Writing program at my university, for example, requires that I have to take a minor in English. According to my adviser, this is to make my degree seem more viable to jobs such as teaching, in case writing doesn't work out. I understand based on statistical success rates, that it may be necessary, but it still is unfortunate. I don't think other fields are already preparing for their students' failure to such an extent.
As of now, I think I am going to go for a degree in Marketing with a minor in writing instead. See where that takes me. One thing that I notice about many writers, is that they can be unwilling or afraid to try different things. I know we have a tendency to be introverted and like to stay in our little bubbles, but the world is a big place. Of course writing to our own interests is the main goal, but there are many other avenues of writing and expressing our creativity. Sometimes we just have to bite the bullet.
~Alyxandra Sarik
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