The purpose-driven English degree

When I tell people that I am working on a Master's in English, the general response is a very polite, "Oh, neat. So, what are you planning on doing with that?" Buried in that genuine question is a deeper curiosity about what it is that English majors actually do with themselves post-higher eduction. It's a legitimate question, I admit. Americans seem to have a hard time justifying that which does not have a clear goal or contribution to society. We look at those in law school or medical school and see future lawyers and doctors. We look at those in pharmacy school or business school and see future pharmacists and businessmen or businesswomen. But for some reason, when we come across the English or philosophy or sociology student, we wonder if they really have any significant contribution to our world. Of course, no one would dare admit these things out loud, but the truth is that most of us, if we're honest, view the seemingly "non-productive" route as the bottom of the vocational food chain. And please know that I am not above thinking like this. In fact, a determining factor in me being an education major instead of an English major in undergrad was that I could not stand the thought of not knowing what I would do with my degree when I finished. I wanted to know that there was a point and a goal and a tangible outcome to all the time, effort and money invested into that degree.

And here I am several years later, facing those same questions and fears--from both myself and those around me. "What are you planning on doing with that degree?" It's a legitimate question, but I don't think it's the right one. Because the truth is that I cannot answer that question right now. I hope that it makes me a better teacher and a better writer, and I hope it opens avenues to writing that I would not otherwise have had, but I really have no idea what I'm going to do with it. A better question is, "Why go to graduate school at all?" This I have an answer to, because I could not rightly begin a degree without grappling with that question. To be clear, I am not going to graduate school to make more money, to have more letters after my name, or simply because I could think of nothing better to do. While the answer to this question could be its own blog entry (or book), the basic version is: I am working toward this degree because God has given me the gift of writing and an open opportunity to study it in more depth, and, for me, it would be disobedience toward Him if I did not write. Of course, I could be obedient to Him without a degree, but He has so clearly opened doors for me to go to school this year that I would be remiss not to walk through them.

My prayer and goal is that He will use this time of study and writing to further His kingdom. And that takes a generous amount of faith because I want to know now what the point is. I want to know that I'll be able to write a book one day, or that something I write will help people know Jesus better. But I don't know that right now. I feel like He has said, "Go to the land that I will show you," and so I have abandoned what would have been a more comfortable life this year (getting a job) and have walked through every door He has opened, and I will continue to walk through those doors unless He closes them. This is not irresponsible living masquerading as faith; this is obeying Him even when it doesn't make practical sense. So, I'm learning to live by faith, to be satisfied with the questions, and to find purpose along the way and not just in the final outcome. In the words of my sage grandmother (who is also a writer), "The real joy doesn't come in whether or not you're published, but in knowing that you're being obedient to God."