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Insert new acquaintance here
March 1, 2008
“So, Rachel, what are you studying?”
“English.”
“So, you’re going to teach?”
“No, I’d prefer not to. I’d just like to write.”
“Oh, so, like, journalism?”
“No, not really. More on the creative side, I guess.”
“Oh. Like, stories?”
“Maybe.”
“What are some of your ideas?”
“Well, there’s this one about a girl who walks into a mini mart, and her head rolls off.”
“Oh.”
“…”
“…”
———-
“So, Rachel, what are you studying?”
“English.”
“So, you’re going to teach?”
“Absolutely.”
Categories: College, Daily, Dialogue
March 1st, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Story of my life.
March 1st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Amen.
March 1st, 2008 at 11:59 pm
True story. :)
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 am
Yes yes yes. Another lost soul here. Although I want to be a professor, so I can squeak by with a “yeah, teaching… of a kind,” even though it’s an impractical, long-shot goal on the order of writing fiction.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:15 am
Oh yes, I have been there and done that… And then I did in fact decide to teach after spending 5 years saying nope–no way. =)
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 am
It’s nice to know that other people’s dreams are too complex to summarize in one simple phrase. That’s comforting to me.
March 2nd, 2008 at 1:04 am
yep, you should talk to alison at silverspiral, of course i think she should write and that her writing is brillant.
March 2nd, 2008 at 1:55 am
been there. my sympathies. =)
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 am
At least youre intelligent enough to recognize that talent in yourself.
You, my dear, will be famous.
March 2nd, 2008 at 6:02 am
I dunno, still better than American Studies.
“So, Leah, what are you studying?”
“American Studies.”
“Oh, so you’re… um… what do you do with American Studies?”
*awkward silence*
“My parents have this furnished basement…”
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:44 am
Sometimes I wish I had this pre-recorded conversation on a voice recorder that I could just push the play button…
March 2nd, 2008 at 10:26 am
Smart girl.
Why do people assume that everyone wants to be a teacher? When I told my question-askers that teaching is the last thing I want to do, and that I was looking for a job that actually, you know, uses my degrees, they say “You know, you really ought to apply at Bayer.” Really? A chemistry major applying to the largest chemical company in the city? Thank you, because I never would have thought of that on my own.
Also, I wouldn’t mind hearing your mini-mart head-rolling story.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
HAH!
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I got that same comment when I told people I was majoring in Spanish… so are you going to teach? And I was like “HELL NO!” Now look where I am.
March 2nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Haha. Dude, I need to find a quick way to shorten those types of conversations too. I found out that “I don’t know” seems to further the questioning. Sigh.
March 2nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Oh, I hated that.
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:39 pm
What makes me feel even worse is that I know for a fact that I have had that exact conversation with you. I only wish you would have told me the story of the rolling head.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Ah, I know how that goes. That’s why I decided on to apply as a Biology major, so people don’t ask me stuff like that.
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Whenever I tell someone I’m studying photography they look at me like “that’s so cool!” Or they look at me like “you poor dear… and how are you going to make a living?”
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Mine’s easy. Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism. But wait… I want to be a country music singer, maybe I should change it.
March 2nd, 2008 at 10:26 pm
In a weird way, that’s kind of a similar chain events that happens when I explain IT to some. No heads roll off though.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:00 pm
hahaha. I love this!
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:24 am
I believe in doing what you love, even if it means one day you may live in a box with a sign “Will Teach Shakespeare for Food” :) Hopefully I will find an English teaching gig somewhere… someday.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 am
Good answer! :)
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:29 am
So an English teacher walks into a mini-mart, and her head rolls off…
Do you want to write my biography?
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:46 am
Yes. Pretty much exactly.
On a side note, I don’t recommend following your dreams if you have student loans.
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:38 am
This post made my day :)
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
;-) Never be ashamed of what you love to do, even if the rest of the world thinks you’re loopy… That’s what my grandma always said (except it was in dutch with a huge Drents accent)
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
my response to that question was always “oh no, i absolutely hate children.” that shuts people up in a fun and exciting way.
these days i tell people that i am working on developing a way to make money without working. if they laugh, then i say “and i won’t tell you when i discover the secret!” which also shuts them up, because as ridiculous as the idea sounds, it’s everyone’s secret dream, and if i DID figure it out, they would be very sad that they mocked me.
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
i was a creative writing major who ALWAYS said “no” to teaching questions… one year out of college and i’m applying to grad school to become a high school english teacher. i realized that the thought of having my own room to inspire little twits to read and write was quite thrilling… and the MFA in writing will come a bit later.
don’t worry, dear, i had no idea what i wanted either
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
As a former English major at the very college you call home (I refuse to call it a university), I had many of these conversations too. However, I couldn’t come up with interesting mini-mart stories - so I am teaching. Well, if you can call what I do teaching. I am currently with 7th and 8th graders. It is more like crowd control…and it makes my head fall off…
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
There’s a song from the musical “Avenue Q” that goes something along the lines of “What do you to with a BA in English?”
I know the feeling. It’s frustrating that folks don’t … you know… “Get it.”
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Just tell them you’re considering grad school later.
…that will stop the conversation dead.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I’ve had that conversation ten million times. It always ends with me telling them that I’ve got the perfect gutterside cardboard box picked out in NYC. I will use my diploma to patch the cracks and keep the wind out.
K.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I was an English major and now I work for a mutual fund company. When I was in college, if I had said I want to work for a mutual fund company, they might have questioned my motives and put me in some yucky accounting classes. I never aspired to work for a mutual fund company but I like the fact that they help me pay off my student loans which gave me said English degree.
I NEVER want to teach either.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
That is like every conversation I have after I answer that I’m majoring in English. And this has happened a few times:
“So what’s your major?”
“English and French,”
“Why?”
“…”
March 5th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I’m pretty sure I took a different route when we had that conversation. You should start hitting people with things. Or hiring people to hit people with things for you! Did I mention I have some free time?
March 6th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
That ‘mini mart trip gone wrong’ story sounds cool! Some acquaintances have no appreciation for unique creativity. :)