Friday, August 15, 2008

So I've decided to tack on the Major of English Education for practical reasons of I need a job when I graduate college.

Advantages:
1. Career Services can help greatly in the search for available teaching positions.
2. I don't need to go to graduate school to start teaching.
3. I don't need to worry about my writing career taking off as soon as I end college.
4. As a student ambassador, when I become a teacher I can travel with the new student ambassadors as a leader.
5. 6 classes will overlap between the two majors.
6. Student teaching always seems like so much fun, well, at least for music teachers, but hey, an English teacher can have fun too, right?
7. Nights and Weekends off.

Disadvantages
1. I won't be able to do music.
2. It takes a lot of work to become a teacher compared to a writer.
3. If I do try applying for writing positions, most people will be like "I know you have a Creative Writing major, but it seems like you went the education path, even though you have the same qualifications as someone who only did Creative Writing." Blah.
4. I won't be able to move around. Once you get a job as a teacher, it is very stupid to move out of the district and start over from scratch.
5. I think Ohio tests only qualify you for Ohio schools, whereas PA tests qualify for more states.
6. Because the two majors are similar (both with English), I will have to do a thematic sequence, adding three or more classes of a different field into my schedule.
7. I won't be able to study abroad.
8. If I don't get into a cohort, I won't be able to be a teacher. I don't know exactly how selective these are, but I'm concerned that I won't make it.
9. It'll be harder to do anything with music after schooling is over, because I won't have anything on my record as a major or minor.

Hopefully I'll end up as a teacher like Mrs. Hipkins or Mr. Jack, who as English teachers help out with the musical, and then it'll all be good?

2 comments:

Tim Parenti said...

At least you've got the pros and cons written out, so you can see what you're giving up in exchange for other things. Hopefully the benefits will greatly outweigh the costs!

Good luck in your collegiate endeavors!

Moria said...

This...totally and completely helped me out somehow with my career decisions...thanks andrea:D miss you!