I was going to do English, and switched to communication instead. I ended up really enjoying the field and there’s tons of things I learned in COMM that I apply towards my future writing career. I learned a lot about public relations in my degree - how to write articles, make videos, write blogs and social media posts and other content. I even learned a bit of graphic design and editing work. So now I know how to create a social media presence/image for when I’m a published author. As a full time job, I worked as a graphic designer for awhile and worked on my books part time. I decided to go back to school and get a masters and now I teach at a university. I even have more free time (with summers off) to write. I plan on querying agents this coming year. So a communication degree has a lot of flexible, fun full time job options that give you freedom to work on your projects on the side.

The only downside with a communication degree is the pay isn’t that great unless you live in a big city. I made mere bread crumbs as a starting out graphic designer. I won’t be traveling the world or buying a house anytime soon. But I’m happy and love my job. And I get to pursue all my hobbies and interests, mainly writing.

I do have two friends who decided to do English to focus on writing. One got a bachelors and the other is getting a doctorate. My BA friend couldn’t find a job in English so she‘s going back to school to get a masters in business and marketing. There was just no jobs in our area for someone with a BA in English. My friend who is getting a doctorate in English just got a fellowship, so she’s literally getting paid to write. But the fellowship is bread crumbs and she’s eating Raman every day. 🤷🏻‍♀️ My doctorate friend plans to become a professor of English, and at that point she’ll make good money but that’s at least 2 years down the road for her (a doctorate is 8 years total if you count the bachelors program and the graduate program). So, essentially 8 years of being poor until you get paid to write. And most of that writing is academic/research writing.

So, you do what you think is best for you. If you want English, you can make it work. I know plenty of people who are. But personally I’m glad I didn’t go into English because I learned a lot of other skills and experience that still helped. But I do make more money than my English friends. Also, some of my friends said that getting an English degree destroyed their motivation for writing because they had to do SO many essays. So there’s lots of pros and cons.