I’m a ways through college and at the point where I need to finalize a major, and yet I feel as lost as when I started.
I like reading and want to write fictional books in the future and am working on some now. I also love history and researching it. Along with writing books, I really want to create an animation series about some of the most important figures and events in history.
I have been planning for awhile to major in journalism or history, but have been reconsidering this. I don’t really want to do journalism just because it will help me work on writing, I don’t exactly like the field. And I don’t really like any other writing majors like English, which I believe make you a worse writer by telling you what to write, not how. As for history, I am starting to feel that it’s more of a hobby, not something to major in. I feel it’s better to learn a skill that can pay the bills, and was looking into stem fields. I was wondering if there is anything in this category (or any other) that has a major that can fit back to my interests. I like computers, and have been thinking of trying a computer science class this fall. Would this be something that could help me with my animation series goal? Are there any other majors that would? All suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Whether or not your English major teaches you how or what to write depends on your college. I would argue that most English majors don’t teach you either of those things; most English majors are actually literature focused. You study the great literatures of the world - probably with a Western emphasis - and in the process you learn about the conventions of writing. Some English majors have writing minors or concentrations, and there you’ll take classes on how to write.
Not all STEM fields teach you skills to pay the bills. Most science majors are liberal arts & sciences majors just like English; math, biology, and chemistry majors don’t teach you anything more specific that will help you get a job than English or history do. Most students in those majors learn the accompanying skills (like statistical software, analysis, etc.) in part-time jobs or internships or other kinds of experiences. The major is only the foundation. Besides, I know lots of gainfully employed history and English majors - and most of them have a job that requires writing in some capacity.
So if you are really passionate about English or history, major in one of those! But if you are serious about animating, then yes, computer science will help you with that. You’ll need to learn to program (although you’ll also need to be an artist, unless you’re interested purely in bringing others’ art to life through computers).