What to do with a B.A. in English?

It appears that I'm just looking to pick a fight with the world. First, I'm female. We'll always have to fight. But that's for another post. I'm Asian American. I go to a women's college...in New York City. (Yes, I have had to justify my choice to bewildered classmates and teachers in my very, very liberal high school in Siberia). Oh, and I've decided to major in English!

So that must automatically mean I want to be a teacher or a professor, because of course, that's ALL one can do with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. I have nothing against teachers or professors. I deeply admire and respect people in these professions and believe that in order to teach, one must wholeheartedly want to do it to do good and influence young minds. That is why I believe it is not a career choice to be chosen lightly or simply for money.

But of course, we English majors all have to deal with annoying know-it-alls who assume that all of us aspire to be teachers. So, for those of us who have no desire to become educators, here are some answers I've concocted after having resisted one too many urges to throttle these people. Just to get back at them.

Annoying-know-it-all-asshat: English?! What are you going to do with a major in English? Teach, right?

You:

Oh no! I plan to marry a very wealthy gentleman who will take very good care of me. So don't waste your sympathy worrying about me.

I plan to be a starving artist. Because that is what I am, an artist. My medium of choice is words.

Publishing! I want to be the CEO of Houghton Mifflin someday. Mwah!

There are so many things one can do...so many things.. Don't even get me started. I, myself, am not so sure. Oh, I might write advertisements for Vitamin Water, or edit bad college essays, or teach English to poor, impoverished kids in South Korea and then go for a MFA.

Dude, I'm just trying to get through college and English happens to the be easiest subject for me. Me, I'm going to join the Peace Corps and live in Eastern Europe for the rest of my life after college.

I just like medieval literature, you have a problem with that?

Let me get my MFA/MA first. Then I'll get back to you..

I'm going to be the next J.K. Rowling, make tons of money, and live in Beverley Hills.

I'm actually pre-med/pre-nursing/pre-law.

World domination!

What to do with a blaaahg?

Oh, what shall I do to this blog? I set this blog up months ago to practice my writing. I wrote in it once. But school is the biggest amnesiac of all. So now that I have loads of free time on my hands, I wondered what to do with this blog.

Originally, I set this blog up as a writing blog. Mostly for creative writing. Then it occured to me that there was a big potential for plagarism, especially creative writing. So, I scrapped that idea. I could also go the daily journal route. In the past, before I tightly locked up my LJ blog, random people have friended me because they found my blog amusing. Or they knew me from somewhere. But I have an LJ for that, although it's turning into more of a social network for me these days. And I really don't want to air my private thoughts and daily doings on the big, bad internet. So, out goes that idea.

What if I wrote essays about things I felt passionately about? One of the main pushes I got for starting this was from a friend who pictured me writing for a newspaper or magazine. (One can dream big, no?)

Then, I thought...how about a sex blog? It's something I'm very interested in. Well first, I'd need to get a new blogger username since I've advertised this blog on Facebook and I really don't want it to fall in the hands of my conservative family members with Facebook accounts. And for other reasons as well.

How about a feminist blog? I'm not much of a scholar. So I think it'll turn into one bitch fest with little credibility. As much as I am passionate about feminism, I don't think it would work out.

So, I'm back to my original idea with a few modifications. This is going to be a writing blog. But more like my Moleskine journal. So it will be unroganized. I'm planning to have tidbits of my daily life, musings, rants, bits of creativity. Anything that strikes my fancy. And maybe some artwork. I'm not really looking to be famour or anything. Then again, maybe I should consolidate this with LJ but keep these entries unlocked. Except LJ seems to be having some issues lately, of the political sort.

Screw it. Maybe I'll just start a sex blog.

Ideas and suggestions are always welcome.