<p>The title of this thread made me think the situation was some sort of emergency. It’s not. We don’t get to choose the career for our students. Even though my kid is so bright and has an engineer’s brain, she wants to teach History. It’s her life - she needs to fulfill her passion.</p>
<p>VicariousParent, of course, you will support her. Thirty-eight years ago I wanted to be an English professor. It did not work out for me and you can find my story at [url=<a href=“http://www.thetortoisefactor.com%5Dthetortoisefactor%5B/url”>http://www.thetortoisefactor.com]thetortoisefactor[/url</a>]. Generally disillusioned about university culture, etc., I wound up in public relations which I enjoyed, but PR is not a wealth career. The question is, is she passionate about literature or teaching. The culture of an English Department has nothing to do with Mr. Chips. Tell her to search “failure in English PhD programs” and she might want to search. “PhD Octopus.” Just tell her to ask at least five professors to tell her what the ordeal is like. There are lots of ways to make literature a part of one’s life besides a university career. I don’t regret my ordeal (about five years of my life) but only because of the literature I bathed in. If she searches the cons, then it seems to me you have given her the caveat emptor. Oh, Francine Prose, a successful writer has worthwhile opinions on why she dropped out. PLEASE have her research it herself. University English departments are “sales people” too. They need cheap teaching assistants.</p>
<p>Eddie–I was just thinking --every time I see this thread title, part of me thinks it’s going to be some kind of spoof thread. And then I remember it’s not. It’s a good way to be reminded of how differently people can view the world, the future, our kids, their choices, and what matters. But I have been gettng a lot out of it–it’s informative as far as “how people think.”</p>
<p>Guys, the title of this thread is like a tabloid headline. It was meant to grab your attention (and it did). I am sorry, it was a tad insincere. I know it is not an emergency.</p>
<p>Do make sure that she’s conversant with the literature on the minefield that is the current academic job market and the heinous funding situation for scholars of the humanities. No one should apply to graduate school in a state of ignorance of those things. If she really grasps the prospects but still wants it, nothing and no one should stand in her way.</p>
<p>^^I don’t see the point in having the conversation now. If she was going to go to law or medical school, or be employed by some business, would she really need to be doing something differently now? Not really. </p>
<p>Let her have her dream during her undergrad years. By extinguishing it now, it is more likely that the OP’s daughter will “mail it in” academically. It’s less likely she will be an academic star, and that will hurt her prospects in a practical career. </p>
<p>Having a kid passionate about academics is a gift; don’t squander it by trying to micromanage them.</p>
<p>I had lunch with a friend yesterday who told me her daughter who has an MFA is making $12/hr. That is her day job. My humanities field, less marketable than English, PhD kid’s stipend is more than that. Even if he makes $12/hr after the PhD he is in better shape for the short run, it seems to me. I have suggested he save some of the stipend and he does.</p>
<p>Academia has been a goal for the worm. Prior to grad school, he listened and watched the problems grad students were having, and why many were doing postdocs. He saw how they had to uproot their families, and sometimes go to locations far from ideal. </p>
<p>While the worm is enjoying being a T.A. in grad school, he does have a Plan B.</p>
<p>I cannot fathom that the OP’s DD is unaware of the low probability of an academic career. If not, I’d encourage her to spend time with current grad students and talk to career center. I think there are many plan B’s for Eng grad</p>
<p>As a student who wants to become an English professor as well, I say let her choose her own path. My mother was also upset with me for my choice but I remind her, what is the most successful life, a happy one or a luxurious one? Sure, there is cross -over and those who are genuinely happy with their jobs that also happen to pay very well are blessed in their own way, but I would rather be happy with my life and living with more modest means than be absolutely miserable in a highly demanding, lucrative job. She wanted me to be a biglaw attorney or doctor but those are particularly arduous and no less expensive in tuition$. Maybe I’ll change my mind, maybe I won’t. But in the meantime, I’m glad my mom ultimately has let me decide for myself.</p>
<p>Be careful of doing this. If she has the passion to pursue a professorship in English, she just might take you up on it. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone gave up all parental support to pursue a dream.</p>
<p>I have skimmed through this thread with some interest as I have a college freshman humanities / arts kid who looks like she is headed in the direction of a non-lucrative career path. She has the smarts, the academic hard work chops, and the love of literature to be a college English professor, but right now I think she wants to be an actress :). The bigger question for me here, the answer Im searching for, is, what role do I as a parent play in supporting her in making decisions and getting information about career direction? At this point I think that the only thing I can really do for her is share with her my own personal life experience, and my own regrets. I havent many regrets, thankfully, except that right now I am in temporary job purgatory because of a lack of professionalism amongst many of my peers I’m sure Ill figure out this personal conundrum shortly and Ill eventually get back to feeling fulfilled with my chosen career path. A non-lucrative career path (public social services) has also not really been a problem for me, as H and I have managed with our combined incomes to live a comfortable middle class life and be able to afford good primary education and college for our child.</p>
<p>The one answer I have found missing on this thread is do any of you parents take the step of strongly encouraging your college kids to spend time (lots of time?) in the colleges career centers? Seems to me that there are career professionals employed by most good colleges that can really help students figure this stuff out for themselves. I do resent the fact that when I was in college, no one not my parents nor my profs nor my deans nor anyone else ever directed me to go to a career center. I dont even know if there was a career center at my (Ivy) alma mater in the 70s, when I was a student. I would love to hear parents experiences with suggesting that their kids take advantage of these services. A new thread, perhaps?</p>
<p>You are more than welcome. Good luck to you and your daughter. I wish her the best in whatever she chooses. Someone else pointed out the importance of not stultifying her passion, passion that will get her good marks. I would agree with that. I also agree that the English major itself is still one of the best. It makes a person think and adapts well to countless fields. She is young. Letting her do literature, perhaps through her Masters, will not hurt a whit. I am intensely loyal to the humanities in the end. It’s what institutions sometimes do to them that frustrates me. God save the library and bookstores.</p>
<p>I am also going to show my daughter that link, she is an English major with a possible minor undecided. Being a professor is a dream, but she knows the odds.
She laughed when she saw a photo in a magazine of a man selling poems for 25 cents on the street, “That’s me in 4 years”, but I know whatever happens, she’ll be happier being an English major. She tried business/accounting and hated it first semester, just to see if “practical” was better, she was good at it, but hated it. Later a professor told her when she told her she dropped it, “Oh good, that wasn’t you at all, you’re a writer, your heart is not there.”
Well, I wish them all well, to have passion is wonderful and to keep some of it in your heart always, is better.</p>
<p>“I had lunch with a friend yesterday who told me her daughter who has an MFA is making $12/hr.”</p>
<p>When I founded my publishing house, I made ZERO from it for the first 18 months. I pieced life and limb together with pick-up work, part-time work (that paid about half of $12/hour or a little less) and living in a collective house with seven people in it. </p>
<p>Needless to say, my parents were appalled, and they didn’t know the half of it. And it worked out just fine. The publishing house (which I haven’t been associated with, except as an author, since 1991) employees 20+ people and brings in $2-3 million a year in income.</p>
<p>Thank heavens I never took a math course, learned all my computer skills by doing, and my humanities education taught me how to read and write well. It was the most “practical” education imaginable.</p>