Q&A | English Degrees! 

a family member tried to tell me i'd end up broke and homeless if i took an english degree and i ranted for almost two straight hours. i don't understand why english majors get shamed so often- communication is probably the most valuable skill one can have!

College student A: “I’m studying architecture ” Random Person A: “So what will you do with that degree?” College Student A: “Become an architect, I guess...” Well I say.... Me: “I’m an English major” Random Person B: “So what will you do with that?” Me: “Become an Englishman, I guess!:)”

Im getting a degree in Creative Writing which means no one ever taking it seriously.

I have a B.A in English and this video pretty much sums it all up. What you learn and go though as an English major is life-changing. EFFECTIVE communication is a huge factor. Some majors that often have "set" career paths don't really prepare you for situations outside (or even within) their field of trade. You have the tools, you have your trade, but what you do with it or how you approach very specific cases can be difficult. Of course there are exceptions because not everyone will have the same experience. I've had friends who were English Majors and took a minor in a different course (and vice versa) because English works hand in hand with so many other fields. Having an English degree prepared me with whatever job I came across. It's allowed me to think outside the box and inspired me to always reinvent myself. But hey! A college education is a college education. We should be grateful to have such a great opportunity that is not accessible to others. Whether you're an English, Bio, History, or whatever other major, kudos to you. :) Thanks for making this video, Ariel!

THE TEACHER QUESTION UGH. Relatable af. 😂

So, my whole life I’ve been told you can’t do this degree or that because you won’t get a job with it.. this includes my passions for art and literature. I am now in my 30s and still craving the knowledge I’ve always wanted and have decided to get my bachelors. I’m a little afraid of what might happen .. if it will work out the way I want it to but this video helped.

I used to get that "Are you going to be a teacher?" question all the time because I got my degree in History. I'm currently working at a library and am working towards a Masters in Library and Information Science. I love reading fiction but I'm not a fan of looking for metaphors and stuff in books that I read. I love classics and modern literature but I read them for pleasure. I read history non-fic for pleasure but also for critical reading, kind of in the same way you do for analyzing classics. Great video, I really enjoyed hearing about your experiences as an English major😊

Thanks for picking my question! I'm in the middle of an English degree right now and I cannot believe how much I've learned and how much I've changed. I've come to realize that there aren't an abundance of concrete "skills" you learn in English, like programming a computer or fixing a car, but everyone needs attentive readers and writers. And you spend a lot of time refining that skill in English. The biggest thing is the way you learn to think. Critical thinking and being able to attack something from several different angles, those are invaluable skills. When you get a job, you can be taught the basic skills. But the way you think and the dynamic way you understand the world is what makes you special. Your advantage as an English Major is that you're basically a professional student. THATS so incredibly valuable. (And cool.)

CAN SOME PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE ENGLISH DEGREES TELL ME ABOUT HOW FINANCIALLY STABLE AND EMPLOYED THEY ARE RIGHT NOW JUST SO I HAVE SOME REAL LIFE EXAMPLES???!!

I really really want to read that essay on pure heroine, that sounds so interesting.

I'm considering majoring in English, and this video made me feel so much better about the idea. Thanks, I really needed this!

*Random memory from one of my Victorian literature courses:* We were reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens and after the discussion our professor would read aloud some of his favorite parts from that week's section of the book. Well he got to a particularly sad moment in the book and he actually got really teary-eyed and didn't take him long to start crying! That was such a tender moment! ♥ Really showed how much that book touched him and how connected he felt with it. Such a sweet moment. :)

I love this video. Getting an English degree was probably the most fun and hardest thing I've ever done. Three years later and I still miss it. Even though I loved it, I was often met with hostility about doing what many people, especially those who favor the sciences thought was "a throw-away degree." To me, the question wasn't what you CAN do with an English degree, it's what you CAN'T do with it. I would encourage everyone to pursue their passion because it will lead you in the right direction. I can't tell you how much I loved talking with other people about Calvinism in gothic literature. It was a total game changer for me. Now I'm getting my master's to be a teacher, but that's not what I wanted three years ago. I honestly feel like majoring in English improved me as an individual and will help me in almost every aspect of my life. How many people can say that about their degree? Anyway, rant over. Haha.

English and Creative Writing are separate majors (both have BAs and MFAs) at my university (I took Creative Writing) and I learned there's some unspoken rivalry between them, which I think stemmed from how differently they approach reading/books. The former: analysis. The latter: craft. Found the rivalry funny, though, cuz the English majors I've met were pretty nice.

Thank you , Ariel. I will finish my high school in a couple of months and I am planning on studying English. I know a lot of people in my family are going to be quite freaked out by it when I tell them but I have only one life and I wanna do what I love.

Thank you for answering my question! I'm currently in my first year of a joint English Literature and Ancient History degree! I completely agree about not reading all the books you're asked to read /they give you a crazy amount!!

I'm currently doing my Eng Degree and this video just made me more motivated. Also, seeing the stacks of books behind you made me want to buy the entire local book store. New Sub! woo!

I've never seen anyone as passionate about an English degree as you are, I can really see the passion in your eyes, when you talk about books. Very motivating and encouraging for me to pursue my English degree. Thank you.

I got my bachelor's degree in English and this video spoke to me on sooo many levels. I was literally agreeing with you when you said the #1 question you get asked all the time. Omg I can't even count how many times I was asked that when I graduated in 2004. I now have a Master's in Communication (film production core) and I work for a tech company. I wouldn't be where I am without my English degree!

To the question of whether Lit majors 'like' all the books they read: Yeah, God No. But also, I have found that I would much rather talk about a book I hate. This might just be a personality thing but I always come to class with a lot to say about books that are disappointing, full of misogyny, written in a way I hate, structured in a way that makes them inaccessible...like, those conversations are golden because conflict is how you learn. In my college Lit majors are required to take one Creative Writing course. Also, to the question of enjoying YA less, I am entering my final term and am going to be taking an Adolescent Literature class; so, it's possible to continue to love YA and also study it because YA and children's lit (which I've also taken) has so much to do with our culture and how we read.

Great video! And you were spot on with everything. I could relate so much...my favorite part of my English degrees (I got my MA) was class discussion! I always tried to participate. I also really enjoyed my electives like psychology, film, anthropology.

This whole video had me nodding and saying "Yes!" out loud the whole time! You totally captured everything all of us English Majors feel! I also graduated last spring, but with an emphasis in Education, so I was taking those courses as well as Literary Studies ones. I feel like it actually really helped with my appreciation of YA by seeing how actual students of that demographic respond to it. But I totally agree, reading both genres are very different experiences! I don't go looking for symbolism in YA, but sometimes I wind up picking some out naturally, which is fun! Also, a Marxist take on Lorde's album? That sounds amazing? Seeing things like that and all of the different lenses people interpret literature and art and media is definitely my favorite part of the whole experience!

I love your videos so much! So informative, even if they're not relevant to me right now. I really enjoy hearing your perspective on things and seeing your honesty in changing and evolving on youtube. it's refreshing.

I really really REALLY needed to hear that lil' section about the balancing of personal and uni reading. You've made me hopeful and reduced my anxiety. THANK YOU

I really enjoyed this Q and A, I'm currently in my first year studying creative writing and I loved hearing all about your english degree experiences and thoughts :)

You have such passion for your degree it's so inspirational to listen to you talk 🙌🏼

Yes!!! You explain things so well! I got most of these questions a million times over. I did the Creative Writing concentration, yet still had some Lit classes. I ended up minoring in Advertising and now I'm copywriter.

I really appreciate your perspective on this and I find your positivity really encouraging. I am working on a French degree right now and I've been having some doubts lately about the utility of it after I missed an opportunity to study abroad in Paris. I absolutely love my classes though, especially the literature ones.

I have been contemplating this for a while so thank you so much for uploading now!! x

I was unsure whether I wanted to do an English degree but your video definitely sealed the deal for me. THANK YOU for posting this. 😊👍🏼📚

Thank you for this video! I graduated with my BA in Creative Writing last year. I took a lot of Literature classes and I had to read 3-4 books in a course of every two weeks! It got a little overwhelming and I was not able to catch up with them all. So it is good to know I was not the only one. I love your videos!!!

I am currently working on my English degree & I have to agree, discussions are the best!!! It's so great to hear everyone's different opinions & the environment is so welcoming.

oh my gosh I get asked what I'm going to do with my English degree all the time so so true, this video made me so warm and fuzzy I think about these things all the time

Great video! I'm a fourth year World Literature student and I can agree with a lot that is said in this video. My intended major was English but I was lucky enough to attend a school which offered World Lit! I would highly recommend taking World Lit classes as they offer many different perspectives and combine a variety of subjects such as literature, international studies, history, and so on!

I'm new to your channel and I'm loving all the topics you approach. You seem to go beyond in the discussion. congrats

I love your energy, way of expression and absolute sparkle and spirit for literature! Beautiful person, you are. 💖🌸

I am getting my degree in English with a Teacher Licensure! I agree with a lot of things in this video! You can't possibly read all of the material & some classes are dreadful but some really do change your outlook! Loved this video!

This was so helpful! I'm starting my English literature degree in August! Thank you Ariel! Love from Mexico ❤️❤️

This video really helped ease my worries, quite honestly! I am a senior currently planning on majoring in Creative Writing, but some of my relatives have been pushing for me to go for an English degree instead. I love English, but I feel a lot more excited about Creative Writing and it's just what I am more passionate about. You helped confirm my thoughts when you differentiated the difference between an English and a Creative Writing degree, where CW is of course more about actually writing. In short, thank you for making this video haha 😊

I appreciate your great knowledge on the great nature of the English literature degrees. You truly are an angel.

This is so relatable. Thank you for this video Ariel. I am studying English as my pre-law.

I was planning to major in English and then I changed my mind to architecture and I have to say that I really have to learn the art of communication , it is an essential skill in studying architecture , it gives you a voice in the room and bring people around you to listen to you . Personally , I see a lot of similarities between English degree and architecture degree , they both depend on the depth of thoughts and how convincing they are .

Hi! I'm taking an Anthropology degree and I get the same reactions, almost everyone thinks it's useless but it's just like you said: it's not useless, far from it, it's just not clear what my job will be at the end! (And right now I really have no idea about what to do next ahahah) I'm now in the last year and in the last semester and I'm very thankfull I chose it, it provided me so much personal growth and made me think about so many things about the human lives, I wouldn't change it for anything else. Great video as always, btw! :D

This video is really helpful as an incoming English Lit major. I was starting to be nervous about my major because I'm just an anxious person but the way you worded everything really put me at ease, especially the career question.

I'm currently going into my third year for an English/Psych degree, and I love every second of it 😄❤️ Loved the video!!! Getting constant questions about what I plan to do besides teaching can be so frustrating, but I love videos supporting the English degree!

Thank you so, so much for this. It's finally starting to set in that in less than half a year I'll be in college studying lit and I'm both excited beyond compare and terrified of the unknown that is soon to come. This has been grounding on a level that I simply needed at this point.

just loved ur vibes it was my first time here nd ya im what an amazing honest person thanku soo much for sharing these things :) love yaa!

Hi Ariel! First off, great video as always; you post some of the most interesting content, and it's a joy to watch your work. Secondly, THANK YOU. In a little over two months I'll be graduating with a BA in English, and to hear someone address some of the questions I get asked and the things I try not to worry about was a relief. Being an English major is not easy: it can be extremely taxing, and I've had a few rough patches over the last few years. But even as I think about the essays I'll be writing during the next nine weeks and how much I might stress myself out, I will always say school was worth it because I've studied what I love. Sorry for the long comment, but I just appreciate you so much and hope you have a wonderful day! You've definitely made mine brighter :)

I loved the video! I'm currently studying online so it's really interesting for me to hear others' opinions on how it is to study English lit on campus. The main difference I've noticed is the amount of discussion that's possible. At my university for the online program we just use blackboard's discussion board and I usually have to make one post per week and respond to one person but it usually doesn't go beyond that (although a plus-side to the discussion board is that I got to witness one of my professors being introduced to Shakespeare memes).

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO I'm in 10th grade and I can't wait to go to college or university to study english and this was so much to watch!!!

i had so much fun skimming through all the titles of books piled up right behind you! 😄

I would love to read some of your essays because they sounds so interesting! Particularly the one about Lorde's album and the one about eBooks if you ever want to post them online.

Doing it. And I loved the video because it was so so relatable especially the part where you've to read so many books but not complete them because I thought that it wasn't a good thing that I didn't complete them and skip the chapters only to do a little research and write an essay about it. Thanks a lot for making this video.

I'm currently studying English Language and Literature with the Open University! I love it so much. I transferred from another university where I studied Film and Television with the OU's way of teaching is much easier for me to understand. I also suffer with anxiety so going to lectures every day was really difficult for me. Love your videos! x

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO! I'm currently majoring in English literature, with a double minor in writing and philosophy, and I absolutely love it! But it's true - there are a lot of naysayers out there who believe that English majors are destined to become teachers (not that there's anything wrong with that) or have no career at all. It's always really refreshing to hear from someone, who has already finished their degree, talking about how happy they are with it. I definitely don't have the time to read everything professors assign thoroughly, and I don't enjoy it all either. However, like you said, there are those classes that I absolutely love - the ones that have me even more excited to read and write and all that fun jazz. I really do believe that English programs train their students in so many different areas, and help us hone so many different skills, that we can do almost anything after we graduate.

I'm studying Comparative Literature and this makes me very hopeful! :') Thanks for making this video!!

I've finished my English degree this year and I can't be more proud, I'm so happy that I chose it.

I have a BA in English with a Creative Writing emphasis and in the beginning of this video when you were talking about people's question and also reading so much, I had my hands in the air like "preach, girl!! Hallelujah!!" I also loved my Women's Literature and Gender in Literature courses. They were so much fun!

Hi Ariel thanks for your video!!!!!! It’s so so so so amazing to see you so passionate about your learning experience and talk about all the unique point of view of your study!! I am Taiwanese studying English education in China... where in general I think we all just study for the exams... I love talking in English I love arts I love amazing stories I live knowing about the world and I am still figuring out what I should do in the future and although I always kinda feel late to read a lot of classics (two more really really busy year to go and I find it really hard... ) I think why I don’t like school it’s because there’s no ideas jumping out everybody is being quiet and if I ( the bad score student ) the teacher resent sometimes cuz I am not the good student behaving well having good scores. I hope I can still be brave and read more try to keep up with the course and write something do something for the humanity. Thank you Ariel you are amazing 🙏🏽

it's really adorable to see how passionately you talk about your degree :))

This is awesome! I'm in the middle of applying to transfer to my schools English program (I might also double my major with history)! Btw I love ur channel so much ❤️

Thank you for this informative, honest, and enjoyable video.

It was fun listening to you.. Yes I do have a English degree and digital humanities. As predicted I am a teacher . But I am trying to make literature fun. Your words gave me ideas about how I can use this to make the teaching learning experience fun.

LOVE YOUR PASSION!!

NO WAY!! My heart shook when I heard you graduated from UofG! That's where I'm planning to attend, so this video was extra helpful for me :) Thanks for sharing your experience!!

i love history, writing, reading, different ways of thinking, and literature. I believe majoring in English is for me

Love you background. Books ,books. And more books

Starting to desperately regret my whole university experience and wish I'd either taken time out or studied away from home or done creative writing/english lit like I almost did. Gaaahhh this was a hard watch I've loved seeing your journey!

I also have a BA in literature and linguistics. Your answer to that first question is so spot on. Not only does a degree in literature teach you about communication but about history, critical thinking, writing, and arguably social justice if you use your knowledge in the right way. Humanities degrees are some of the most efficient because you learn a myriad of skills and pretty much all of them are useful in any job.

You definitely uploaded this at the right time! I'm currently doing a gap year (in England) where I'm trying to figure out what I want to study at university and I'm having a really hard time deciding. An English major is definitely one of the things I could imagine myself doing. Thank you!!

I really want to do an English degree as well, I think it would be perfect for me. Like, just watching this video made me so happy and hearing what you have to say about your degree also really inspires me to get my own, but I'm also kind of scared... Thank you so much for this video and for kind of encouraging and inspiring me! I'm so excited to study English Literature myself😍💕

I'm from just outside Guelph and considering an English degree so this was really helpful! Thank you Ariel!

I'm studying Comparative Literature myself, so there's quite a few differences to English Literature (also I think Danish Universities do things different than Canadian, but that's not important). But I still found your points really great and I especially relate to the whole "what are you going to use it for"-thing.

Ariel, out of all of your videos, believe it or not, I enjoyed this one the most. I could really relate. When I went to college for art, I had soooo many people in my life tell me that I was wasting my time. That you can't make a living with that degree. While there, I discovered illustration and fell in love with it. I am pleased to say that I had a career as an illustrator, and later went on to become a fine artist. I've made my living in art my entire adult life. So, you never know what your path will be, but if you're doing what you love, you will find your way... smiling all the while.

This was definitely a good video. I've been thinking about an English degree for a while, but I've also been thinking about something in computers, like IT. I like English more as a general subject, but I do really like computers, too. This definitely makes me consider English a bit more as I was prioritizing computers for the money.

I just graduated in May with my degree! I don't really have my next step planned yet, but I am so glad that I did it! We will see what the future holds!

English major and proud :D I graduated with an MA a couple years ago, but I can't help but still feel a sort of kindred spirit with any and all English majors - past, present, and future!

I totally relate!!! I'm Spanish and I'm studying English Studies in Madrid, great video!!!!

I love this video. I plan to major in English Literature and then a master in teaching English. I love English, I breathe English, I eat English, and sleep with English in my brain. I know I will enjoy it no matter the price. Thank you for your encouragement. 🙋🏻‍♀️

As a Communication major, I can relate to the first question so much. Whenever people find out about what I'm taking up in college, they always ask what I'll be doing once I graduate.

It was always my dream to get an English degree and become an author, and perhap even double major or (major and minor) with music. But according to my mother, neither of those degrees would put food on the table. She didn't even give me a chance to research things I could do with my English degree, besides writing or teaching which she didn't think I could be good at. She just immediately shot it down (I later discovered I could have used it towards a masters in Library Science, which I wanted badly at one point). Plus I was in the last graduating class that could take OAC, and she decided that it would be best for me to leave high school in grade 12 so that I wouldn't get caught in the double cohort. I had pretty good grades but she seemed to think I would never get into university with all that extra competition. It's a terrible feeling, knowing your own mother has no confidence in you. So I ended up going to community college and getting a diploma that she wanted and I hate, and that has never put food on the table (and never can now because it was in I.T. and everything I learned to get it is now obsolete so I'd have to go back to school if I wanted to pursue a careeer in it). Oh the Irony. I so regret not having the balls to stand up to her and do what I truly wanted.

I'm going to study English this fall and this video helped clear up some of my fears!

I am about to enter college next month as an english major (language studies), and can I just say that I got so inspired by this video that I cannot even explain my emotions right now. Some relatives of mine are badmouthing my degree choice and it is kinda sad for me because this is my dream course. I don't mind my job in the future because I just wanna be a writer and maybe a copyreader, or an editor, or proofreader. Nonetheless, I crave for readings, learnings, grammar lessons, speaking skills, and more. And ofcourse, writing! My love for poetry is just- unexplainable. Thank you so much for this!

I'm not taking an English degree but I'm taking a Mathematics degree so I get pretty much the same reaction regarding what I'll do in the future. Truth is all my options are out in the open because so much of the modern world is Mathematics. I'm afraid I don't have the same passion you have for your degree though. I like Maths but more in a "this is the subject that bothers me the least" sense than a "Mathematics is absolutely fascinating I love it so much". Also, I really don't have the same opinion you have towards electives. I had to take an elective lat semester and I chose Science and Culture which was basically Science in Literature and the whole time I was like "yep, this is why I'm a Math major, I just really don't like studying this". And it's not that I don't like reading or discussing interpretations, I just don't like doing it in an academic environment, too much pressure. Anyway, great video and I really enjoyed it even though I'd never even consider and English Literature major (or a Portuguese Literature major since I'm Portuguese)

I do an English degree but I'm doing my dissertation in YA and it's been such an interesting experience reading YA through an analytical lens. I find I often can't apply the same theoretical frameworks and have to find new ways to unearth the meaning. I think it's making me a better overall student because I have to be so flexible!

I was on the verge of requesting a video like this when it uploaded :D Just what I needed! I'm currently taking ENG 102 and loving all the book talk I get to do!

wow thanks for the info, I'm currently trying to find the right degree for me and you just made it easier, I'm definitely going to study English lit

I just finished my English degree in June. I ended up taking 6 years to complete since I only took 3-4 classes a semester to help alleviate the stress of dealing with my mom's breast cancer and my brain tumor diagnosis... but they were some of the most rewarding years of my life. I took some really incredible classes like an Earlier Medieval Lit class where I discovered I have a burning passion for Medieval times. I took a class on children's literature and had to read Harry Potter for credit. I took a class that was entirely on zombies in lit and movies. And for option classes I found a fascination for greek mythology, archaeology (I took a whole class on excavation and artifact analysis!). I took entire classes on Shakespeare whom I love. I also took a Canadian lit class where we exclusively looked at the residential school system. I cried a lot that semester. We got to meet Richard Wagamese, and had some other first hand survivors speak to our class. (Have you ever read The Outside Circle graphic novel!? Wow.... that book, man.... ripped me apart and then sewed me back together.) There were a lot of challenges within those years and that program but in the end I wouldn't trade it for a second. I even became an executive editor for a student created anthology of fiction short stories. I even got one of my own stories published in the first edition. Getting published, even if it was by a school project, was one of the biggest highlights of my entire life.

this was an awesome video very insightful

This video was so great! I'm doing a degree in English language and literature starting October hopefully so this was really interesting 😊

I loved this video of yours!

Loved hearing the Canadian accent strong in this video, as a Canadian living in the states for a decade.

Don't mind me. I'm just binging on your videos. I'm not an English major but I still share that passion for reading 💕

I am currently studying English Degree in Czech republic and I totally agree with the fact that you can have other course and that some of those English ones are soooo boring! However, I managed (at least for now) read all of the books, because we have only 6 of them during one semest. Your last point was wonderful! I really cannot wait to see what is there for me in the future and I hope that I will do alright and find a good job. Loved the video!

In my first year of my English degree and everything you said was super spot on

My fav books were Fight Club, All the Pretty Horses, and Persepolis (yeah! We got to do a graphic novel!). But I also loved The Great Gatsby. But I also did No Country for Old Men, The Things They Carried, White Teeth, The Remains of the Day, The Line of Beauty, ah! So much goodness!

Oh my God, I wish someone had told me that about creative writing before getting into college, it was my first shock and biggest disappointment as a Freshman. Now, at my last semester, other subjects and courses helped me indirectly with my creative writing, and that seriously made a huge difference, so really everything added up to me as a person and my mentality.

That's crazy! I did Lorde's Pure Heroine for a sociology paper also from a Marxist perspective!! Also, I'm on my semester abroad studying at the University of Waterloo but from Newcastle in England haha (also doing English Lit!) kind of love it here, not sure I'm prepared to go home in a couple of months time! Your semester abroad videos really inspired me to take this opportunity and not be scared about it so thank you :)

Ariel, I would be very interested in reading your essays if you ever make them available for your subscribers, so please consider that :D, I think a lot of other people would enjoy it too! Great vídeo as Always, have a great week!

Oh, the dreaded "So you're going to teach?" question. I really enjoyed this video, having a Master's and undergrad in English; it's encouraging to see the English major in a positive light, especially now where it feels like the humanities are being slowly crushed. Best of success in your Master's!