Why I Am a Creative Writing Major

by Liz Rogers

I get asked a lot why I’m a creative writing major. Actually, I don’t get asked directly. I get the raised eyebrow and the skeptical question: “What do you plan to do with that?”

I don’t mean to be pert. It’s just that the only honest answer I can think of is, “Write!”

The truth is, I tried a really practical course of study. For two and a half years I worked on a degree that would prepare me for a lucrative, stable job.

Amid all those efforts to be practical I squeezed in a course on creative writing. My academic advisor raised her eyebrows and asked, “What do you plan to do with that?”

I had planned to be a writer since fifth grade, but when I transitioned from high school to college, I decided to choose a major that seemed more “grown-up” and sensible. Only my stubbornness kept me from switching back into writing as fast as I could say “wordsmith.” So I trudged through my first years of college, grimly determined to be practical.

But it came down to this: I love writing.

I couldn’t be something I wasn’t. God, the divine Author, crafted me to be a writer. This is the gift He has given me so that I can give it back to Him. That’s way more practical than anything I do in my own strength.

My Creative Writing major has been both fulfilling and exciting. I took basic Creative Writing from an author who has won the Christy award. I followed that up with Expository Writing, Poetry Writing, Short Story Writing, and Writing for Children, all from experienced (and published!) writers. While accounting majors lug piles of math homework to the library and nursing majors practice giving shots to oranges in the lab, I’m creating amazing stories. I’m writing.

What do I plan to do with a writing degree?

Enjoy life more. Enjoy God more. And to serve Him as He designed me.

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