When I tell people that I’ve chosen to study History, they inevitably ask me two questions. The first is “Why?” and the second is “What do you want to do with that?” These are understandable questions. Most majors indicate obviously why someone is studying them, and what that person plans on doing. If someone is a marketing major, they are studying it because they want to go into marketing, which answers both of those questions. But when someone’s major falls into the “Humanities” department–like History or English–people get curious, because the meaning becomes less obvious. No longer is there a clear end-goal. We live in a society where your college experience is just a step along the way to a career, and the idea that your major isn’t directly preparing you to function in the workforce is a strange one to some people.
I usually answer the question “Why?” by saying that I think the study of history is deeply important because the past informs the present and I believe that unless we learn from our past mistakes, we will inevitably repeat them. I also believe that the study of human history honors God because we can gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of His ultimate plan and design.
It’s when I answer the second question that people tend to get even more confused. “I want to be a full-time fiction writer,” I tell them, and for a short second I usually get blank stares, followed by another question: “Why aren’t you an English major?” For a very long time, I assumed I was going to be an English major. When I was in my early high school years, my plan was to be an English major and then go on to pursue my writing career after college. However, people warned against a degree as vague as “English”. People said such a degree was useless, and that I should pursue something more practical. Essentially, I was scared away from the English major.
Now, I recognize the incredible value of the English major, but I don’t think it’s for me. Other majors I looked at included Poli-Sci and Classical Studies (even Psychology and Philosophy for a very brief time), but I ultimately decided on History.
My current plan for after college is to pursue a career in journalism until the age of thirty; by then I hope to have established myself enough as a writer to be able to transition into writing full-time. If that isn’t God’s plan, however, I am willing to submit to that. I also recognize that I am only eighteen and still will be exposed to many opportunities and career options. For all I know, I could end up in business, or advertising, or screenwriting, or even teaching! I don’t know where God is going to use me, but I still feel that I am called to be a writer, and I have confidence that, somehow, that will be a part of His plan.