A Major Change

As in I'm going to change my major. Back to what I originally had it as even, which is English.

All through high school I wanted to be an English major that went on to be a teacher and a writer. But then as I met a lot of other English majors, I noticed a trend: 99.99% of them all want to be writers (and planned on teaching as well, at least until they made it big as a writer). And not wanting to be a cliche, I started thinking about changing my major. And then I lived in England for a couple years, where I was literally surrounded by history. And I fell in love with it (both the history and the country). So it seemed to me that history would make a good new major. I'd also decided against the idea of being a writer. Because it was a lot of work and there's definitely no guaranteed big payout in writing (if there's any payout at all). And for me, the thought of writing a novel only to have it go unpublished just isn't worth it (I know a lot of authors say they'd write anyways, even if they weren't published, because they love it so much. But that's not me; there's too many video games I could be playing during that time. Also, given the chance, I'd throw the BS flag on most those authors).

Anyways, being a history major just hasn't been doing it for me. I'm about as enthused to go to school these days as I am the dentist (and if the dentist has laughing gas available, I'd probably rather see him). It's gotten to the point that I've been considering just quitting school. I'd rather be working a job I hate and at least make some money then be going to school and hating it and being completely broke. However, after talking to some people and doing a lot of thinking, I've decided to change my major instead (though I still need to get some sort of job because the GI Bill is not paying enough and being broke isn't as easy as I thought it would be).

Another reason I decided to change is that UAA's history department is very lacking. While all the professors I've had were excellent, they're few in number and unfortunately, there's no real class offerings for where I'd like my focus to be (medieval Europe, mostly England). There's also no option for going beyond a four year degree in history at UAA and I would definitely like to have a master's degree someday (actually a PhD would be more preferred, but that's something I'd definitely have to leave state for). It's a shame really, because from what I can tell, there's a much greater interest in history at the school than the admin seems to want to acknowledge (though what else can you expect from an admin that has made an art form of sticking their heads up their asses?).

Anyways, the ultimate goal is still to be a teacher someday (rather ironic since I hate being a student). And maybe I'll take back up the idea of wanting to be a writer, but that's definitely not for sure (and won't be until I'm actually writing). Still, when you get emails from people you don't know in regards to your blog and they say, "...you, who apparently don't have any interest in pursuing a career as a writer, seem to have a natural talent which others can only dream about," it begins to make you wonder if there isn't something else you should be doing with your life. (Yes, I've heard similar friends and family, but they're friends and family; they'd better say stuff like that if they want to remain so.)