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Graduating English Major - What Next?
SkyGheNe
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I just finished up my 3rd year at UCONN and am going into my fourth. I've already finished my degree, so it's just earning 120 credits to graduate, which would be feasible in december if I took some winter courses (took 6 courses a semester the last year). The problem is...once I graduate...what then?
My strengths are public speaking and academic writing...that's all i've been trained in while at college. I can conduct research, write a very coherent essay, and have done presentations for my work at the writing center at things like the Northeast Writing Center Association (NEWCA). A lot of the grad students I work with say I'd be a great teacher, but I'm afraid of burning out with high school kids. I do volunteer work at Hartford Public High School, and while the juniors and seniors are awesome to work with, the freshman and sophomores are a nightmare and regardless of the age group, I am unable to tackle the literature at a level that makes it exciting for me (there's basic vocabulary issues at the inner city school).
I'm home for the summer - trying to learn xhtml and CSS for web design, adobe for editing and such so that I can design a website for one of my projects which I hope to sell for cash. I've helped out with other projects such as a CS guide that sells very well now and hope to build from that, developing something of my own. As for making money - I'll be working for the family at a local restaurant, which I hate because I've been doing it for two years, dealing with shoddy customers and all, but it brings in money and that is what matters.
But I'm at this crossroad where I need to buckle down and decide on what I want to do with my life. To be honest, there's a lot of paths, but I'm just not sure as to whether or not I'd like any of them. The only thing I am sure of is that I will be going back for my masters.
I've considered moving out to California and attempting to get a job with a game company - either in localization or some sort of support. Maybe work my way up from a game tester position to something more substantial. There's also offices around Canada and the east coast which I've looked at. I could try to "make it" and if I failed, head back to grad school.
In relation to that, a lot of game companies look for PR/marketing people - so I was thinking of doing that for my masters, maybe getting an internship during my last semester at UCONN at a PR firm for some base experience, or maybe even during the summer after I have graduated.
I could also see if I can get my masters in 5 years at UCONN in education/english so that I could at least teach high school in a worse case scenario. Magnet schools also give excellent benefits/retirement plans...but I don't know if I could do that for 25 years in order to reap the benefits.
I've thought about real-estate, but the housing market isn't looking to sharp. I was considering housing development, but again, it's a bit risky.
As you might be able to tell - it's hard for me to juggle all of this and come to a conclusion on what I want to do or how to even go about doing it. Academia has been a breeze for me...I've gotten straight A's more or less since my sophomore year, taking the hardest english courses possible and not really looking to get the best grade, but to improve my writing. The problem is it's strictly academic writing, not business, or PR, or anything else.
Also - if I got a job close to home - the rents would let me stay for a little and I'd be able to earn up a bit of cash (assuming I found a good paying job in the area) and I could save up for a house and most likely have enough for a down payment in two years, assuming I lived with them + paid rent. But ugh, living with parents (not that they're bad...it's just that independence has its advantages).
So where do I go from here? What can an english major do?
TL: DR
English major - entering senior year. Very good academic writer/public speaker. People say I could easily do presentations/teach etc.
Don't know what to do in life...
1. move to california - attempt to localize games/work for gaming companies in PR?
2. Get a teaching degree and teach?
3. What do english majors get for jobs?
4. Live at home for two years and save up a lot of money?
My strengths are public speaking and academic writing...that's all i've been trained in while at college. I can conduct research, write a very coherent essay, and have done presentations for my work at the writing center at things like the Northeast Writing Center Association (NEWCA). A lot of the grad students I work with say I'd be a great teacher, but I'm afraid of burning out with high school kids. I do volunteer work at Hartford Public High School, and while the juniors and seniors are awesome to work with, the freshman and sophomores are a nightmare and regardless of the age group, I am unable to tackle the literature at a level that makes it exciting for me (there's basic vocabulary issues at the inner city school).
I'm home for the summer - trying to learn xhtml and CSS for web design, adobe for editing and such so that I can design a website for one of my projects which I hope to sell for cash. I've helped out with other projects such as a CS guide that sells very well now and hope to build from that, developing something of my own. As for making money - I'll be working for the family at a local restaurant, which I hate because I've been doing it for two years, dealing with shoddy customers and all, but it brings in money and that is what matters.
But I'm at this crossroad where I need to buckle down and decide on what I want to do with my life. To be honest, there's a lot of paths, but I'm just not sure as to whether or not I'd like any of them. The only thing I am sure of is that I will be going back for my masters.
I've considered moving out to California and attempting to get a job with a game company - either in localization or some sort of support. Maybe work my way up from a game tester position to something more substantial. There's also offices around Canada and the east coast which I've looked at. I could try to "make it" and if I failed, head back to grad school.
In relation to that, a lot of game companies look for PR/marketing people - so I was thinking of doing that for my masters, maybe getting an internship during my last semester at UCONN at a PR firm for some base experience, or maybe even during the summer after I have graduated.
I could also see if I can get my masters in 5 years at UCONN in education/english so that I could at least teach high school in a worse case scenario. Magnet schools also give excellent benefits/retirement plans...but I don't know if I could do that for 25 years in order to reap the benefits.
I've thought about real-estate, but the housing market isn't looking to sharp. I was considering housing development, but again, it's a bit risky.
As you might be able to tell - it's hard for me to juggle all of this and come to a conclusion on what I want to do or how to even go about doing it. Academia has been a breeze for me...I've gotten straight A's more or less since my sophomore year, taking the hardest english courses possible and not really looking to get the best grade, but to improve my writing. The problem is it's strictly academic writing, not business, or PR, or anything else.
Also - if I got a job close to home - the rents would let me stay for a little and I'd be able to earn up a bit of cash (assuming I found a good paying job in the area) and I could save up for a house and most likely have enough for a down payment in two years, assuming I lived with them + paid rent. But ugh, living with parents (not that they're bad...it's just that independence has its advantages).
So where do I go from here? What can an english major do?
TL: DR
English major - entering senior year. Very good academic writer/public speaker. People say I could easily do presentations/teach etc.
Don't know what to do in life...
1. move to california - attempt to localize games/work for gaming companies in PR?
2. Get a teaching degree and teach?
3. What do english majors get for jobs?
4. Live at home for two years and save up a lot of money?
SkyGheNe on
0
Posts
So consider editing, writing, etc.
Teaching does not just mean secondary education. Getting your masters would allow you to teach at the community college level, and going for an MFA, or Ph.d would mean you could teach at the university level. It would mean another 2-5 years of school, but you do not want to end up teaching english to high school/junior high kids.
If you do want to go grad school, get a good score on the GRE, especially the Vocabulary and Writing sections. Also, make sure you have good referrences from professors. That's what killed me, as I thought I had a killer referrence from a former professor, but he totally slacked off and didn't even bother writing it.
It doesn't hurt to go out and work for a year or two as well to help you appreciate going ahead with your education. Not only will you have some more money to help pay for school/expenses, you'll have a better work ethic and know what it's like to manage your students.
Very few people I know actually went to pursue jobs they majored in. Most of the business companies in CT will hire entry level associates with any BA. Nothing glamorous, but communications skills and the ability to write is valued in companies. The UCONN business school had an internship program where you would work intimately with a small business owner over the summer. Because it's a small company if not a proprietorship, you will learn a large variety of things that go great on the resume and may help you decide what you want to do.
I even got a couple temp jobs in different fields when I first graduated to see what kind of company I wanted to work for. I finished in a degree in Finance from UCONN less than 4 years ago. So far I've worked for risk analysis in banks, insurance sales, data analysis, quality assurance and finally I'm a software engineer now. None of which had to do with what I concentrated on in school (investments).
Really if you try hard enough, you can always find a job, hopefully you'll just find one you like. I would definetly stay on course to learn HTML/CSS and other technical skills to make you more marketable and set you apart from other candidates. I would also encourage you to join an organization like Toastmasters. It will further improve your public speaking skills, but more importantly introduce you to a wide range of speakers and people that can help network you. Cause what they say is true, it's who you know. What you know can be learned later.