It’s been almost three weeks since the incoming ArtSci ’11 students have been taunted by the Frosh Week chants telling them they’re doomed to work at McDonald’s. Three years ago, I was one of the frosh hearing those chants, but today I would like to tell those frosh they will never have to ask, “Would you like fries with that?”
In my fourth year at Queen’s I still may not be confident about what I want to do with my life, but those lingering fears about the fast-food industry are beginning to fade.
Through most of high school—and the rest of our lives for that matter—we’re made to believe that to be a success in life, one must become a teacher, a doctor or a lawyer. Seeing as I have little patience for children, I cringe at the sight of blood on Grey’s Anatomy and I’m hardly aggressive enough to raise my voice let alone fight in a courtroom, I quickly found myself running out of options.
So, I became an English major.
This decision may have been based on little more than process of elimination, but it seemed like a good idea back in Grade 12 when I was registering for university. I looked forward to getting to read all sorts of literature and even attending one or two classes that I might be able to enjoy.
However, upon choosing to go into this notoriously impractical major, everyone I met would inevitably ask the daunting question, “What do you want to do with your English degree?”
I would attempt to feign a somewhat plausible answer—something that I had learned to do with much practice over my years of education—but I never really felt sure about any of the things I was saying.
At first I was jealous of my housemates who were in nursing and had a clear path mapped out for their careers as soon as they got their diplomas at graduation. But over the years, I learned that being an arts student isn’t so bad after all. The teacher-doctor-lawyer spectrum of vocations expanded as new opportunities emerged and I began to find a little bit of guidance for my ambitions. Looking to my interests in magazines and reading, I began to aspire towards journalism, getting good experience in the field and learning lots along the way. Exactly what lies beyond graduation is still unclear for me, but I know there’s a job out there for me that’s not in the food industry, and it could even make me happy.
For those who are still in the early stages of their Arts degrees, don’t be discouraged that your education will be useless. There will be opportunities for you and, hey, chances are you will even like getting your degree along the way.
I’m still a little nervous about the future—after all, I did take the LSATs this summer just in case I suddenly develop an aggressive side and find I can get up the nerve to be a cutthroat attorney. So, I’m keeping my options open, but at least I now know there are plenty out there.
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