‘Hello! My name is English-with-a-concentration-in-creative-writing Major. Yes, I am a senior. No, I don’t plan on becoming a teacher or going into journalism, but I’m not dismissing those options. I’m sorry society has led you to believe otherwise.’

Often, when you look at your conversations when you meet someone new, that’s really all it boils down to ‘ your major.

It seems like our chosen major becomes our assumed identity. And, of course, we’re pressured to have some sort of plan to get a job based on our course of study. The process always seems simple and self-explanatory: go to college, pick a major and start a career directly related to that major.

But the relationship between your choice of major and career options is not as black and white as many assume. We are unique people with our own individual set of skills who can find jobs that match our abilities. We shouldn’t let a big fat category like a major define us.

As I mentioned earlier, as an English major, most people assume I want to be a teacher or maybe a journalist. They often think there’s no other paying job out there for English majors except maybe publishing, but it’s supposedly a dying industry. So when I tell people that I’m not interested in any of those careers, they often give me a funny look that says, ‘Then what are you studying English for?’

For a long time I used to think the same way ‘ that English majors have very little hope in finding a job outside of those typecast fields, or any job at all.

So I was surprised when I landed an internship with a reputable life insurance company this past summer. Obviously, a life insurance company is not the first place one would think an English major would apply for an internship, especially since it was an internship in the Information Technology department and I’m definitely not a techie person. But this internship focused on writing for the IT department’s communication team, which had very little to do with actual insurance but a lot to do with writing and publishing articles for the department’s website.

A student studying English was exactly what they were looking for. On top of that, I learned about communications and strategic marketing, two potential fields I had never even considered before.

If it weren’t for my uncle, who told me about the opportunity, it would never have occurred to me that I might have skills that an insurance business was in demand for.

You may be taking standard classes that every student majoring in biology, economics or any other subject may be taking, but you have a unique combination of skills that the person sitting next to you probably does not have.

So whether you’re still in the process of choosing a major or coming to the end of completing a degree, don’t be afraid to step outside of the path you’re ‘supposed to’ pursue.

Even if you have an idea or plan right now, your interests and skills may completely change by the time you graduate, and you might be surprised by what you find.