A Passion for the Humanities in a STEM-Driven World
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A Passion for humanities
Before going to college, I was taught in school that a STEM career should be my ultimate goal. After all, STEM careers pay well and are in high demand. Even though my passion lay in writing and reading, I felt as though I couldn’t pursue that because I wouldn’t succeed.
If you’re like me and have a passion for the humanities, I’m going to blow your mind. The idea that people who study humanities do not succeed is a myth. In fact, nowadays, with employers demanding graduate degrees and years of experience, there is no difference between whether you can succeed with a humanities or STEM degree. Most humanities careers only require a bachelor’s degree and a few years of experience in the field.
In our STEM-driven world, the importance of humanities careers is often rejected or ignored. But writers, editors, linguists, artists, musicians, etc. are just as important as engineers, scientists, and mathematicians. People in humanities fields create the culture of our society. They create art, stories, and music that people can view, read, and listen to, to wind down after a hard day of work.
So, if you have a passion for the humanities but you’re scared to make it a career in fear of failure, you’re not alone. Here is my story of how I overcame that fear, made a career in what I’m passionate about a possibility, and what to do to ensure success once you graduate college.
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from social science to humanities
When I first started college at the University of Rochester, I had no idea what I should major in. I knew I wanted to study Japanese on the side, regardless of what I chose as my main study. I had gone into college with the mindset that I needed to pick a STEM field, but none of the STEM majors sounded remotely interesting to me.
After going back and forth between potential majors for a while, I settled on public health. But as I started taking courses for the major, I started to dread going to class. I was required to take statistics and medical-related psychology courses for the major, and I didn’t enjoy either of those subjects. In short, I was miserable.
It was my older sister who asked me what I really wanted to major in. She told me to pick what interested me the most out of all the majors listed online, and I chose English. The writing and literature courses looked fascinating to me. But what could I do with an English major? Society had convinced me that I could never make a career out of what I enjoyed doing, unless it related to STEM. But society was wrong. Turns out, there’s a lot you can do with an English major.
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exploring careers for english majors
At the University of Rochester, I took various types of courses to explore different careers that English majors can pursue. I took a class called “Speculative Fiction” during my freshman year where I got to write fictional short stories, as well as edit and give feedback on my classmates’ stories. This exposed me to the type of editing that occurs in book publishing houses.
During my sophomore year, I took a journalism course that focused on local news and what makes a good news story. I wrote my first news story in that class—a business profile for a cat café that had recently opened in Rochester. It ended up getting published on the Rochester Beacon.
During my junior year, I explored publishing and editing. I took a class on literary publishing, where I got to intern at Open Letter Books—a publishing company in Rochester that focuses on works in translation. In that course, I learned how to proofread, write reader’s reports, how to find books to publish, and marketing strategies for promoting books.
During the Spring semester, I took a copyediting class where I got to copyedit an essay from the Journal of Undergraduate Research at the University of Rochester. The class went into details about the elements of grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and editorial judgment.
In addition to taking these courses, I explored content writing by writing under the opinions category of the university’s student-run paper, Campus Times. I produced an article every week, quickly becoming a staff writer. And eventually, they asked me if I wanted to open my own column. I ended up opening an opinions column called “Notes by Nadia.” I also received an internship to write for Empire City Wire, which I have done for a few months now.
Through taking these courses and writing for Campus Times and Empire City Wire, I realized that there are so many opportunities for someone with an English degree. Suddenly, the dream of pursuing a career in something I’m passionate about was becoming closer to being a reality.
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How to succeed with a humanities degree
So, how can you succeed with a humanities degree? Well, it’s not very different from how you succeed with any other degree. To start, do some research and make a list of potential careers you can explore with your major. If you’re a music major, maybe you want to teach music. If you love history, maybe you’ll want to work in a museum. Having a list to start with is a great way to put you on track to success.
Once you have your list, start exposing yourself to as many different courses and opportunities for those potential careers as possible. Take classes, join related clubs, apply for internships, and if you’re able to, maybe even study abroad. This is the best way to find out which potential career is right for you. You never want to take a job later on that you know nothing about, only to discover that you don’t like it when you start working.
You’ll also want to form connections with faculty and alumni, when possible. Professors have a lot of connections and may be able to recommend you for an internship or job. They’re also valuable mentors that can give you great career advice. They’re professionals in their field, after all! And alumni can also mentor you and help you land a job.
All these tips will help you succeed in the future with not just a humanities degree, but any degree. What you choose to pursue a degree in does not determine your chance of success.
conclusion
The main takeaway here is to never let anyone tell you that you can’t make a career out of what you love. Your career takes up most of your life. You’ll spend 40 hours a week at your job, so why should you choose to pursue something you’re not passionate about? It’s true that STEM careers pay well, and most people pursue them so they can live comfortably in the future. But it’s not true that all humanities careers don't pay well. Editing and publishing jobs, for instance, pay very well. And there’s always chances to work your way up to a higher salary. It’s all about hard work and dedication.
So don’t give up on your passion. Use my story to motivate yourself to study what you’re truly interested in, even if it’s not what society tells you that you should study. It’s your life and your career!
