For awhile now, one item has stayed a constant on my to-do list: “declare major.”

Ever since I can remember (so apparently since I first learned what college was, how majors worked, and what options there were for majors), I have wanted to major in English. For awhile in high school, I’d go through my “double major phases.” For instance, after I got back from studying abroad in France, I was definitely going to double major in English and French. And then I went through an American history phase, and I wanted to double major in English and History. And then English and American Studies. And then English and Religious Studies. ..You can probably continue the pattern yourself.

When I actually got to Scripps last year and started fulfilling my general requirements, I realized that the one constant in my academic life has been my desire to be an English major and that I’m not really equally passionate about one other subject enough to double major in anything. Once I had this realization, I have been quite content with my decision to have one major, and to have it be English. (I’m apparently the exception to the general rule that you will change your intended major before you graduate.)

Since this decision was firmly made, in my head at least, I decided that I might as well declare now rather than later and just get that paperwork out of the way.

Last week, I finally filled in my forms, talking to my British Literature professor Matz to request him to be my advisor, and turned all into the Registrar’s Office, which as far as I can tell means I’m officially an English major.

One decision I made while looking over the requirements for the major again is to pursue the Honors program. I do like challenging myself, but I mainly want to try for Honors because it is recommended for those students interested in going to graduate school, which I think is a definite possibility for me. I kind of see it as a “why not?” option; I’m only majoring in one subject, with no minor, so I do have the time to devote to my English studies. I talked it over with my advisor, and he does think it is a strong possibility for me.

Although one’s major often has nothing to do with their future career, whether intentionally or accidentally, for me it is very much the first step towards my life after school.

My love for English has a direct correlation to the careers I’m interested in, because those careers are basically defined as anything that has to do with literature (book criticism, publishing, anything that involved writing, etc.). I see my major as a way of building a solid foundation for my future internships and jobs, while also having the option of electives so that I can concentrate a bit more in the specific areas I’m interested in. This major can supplement that “self-education” I spoke about in one my earlier posts (or vice versa, I suppose: my self-education supplementing my major)—for instance, how could one successfully judge a book through a review without a basic knowledge of literary history, “classics,” and other writers?