My major is applicable...I promise
I’m sitting in the basement of Link Library around 9:30 PM, explaining to a friend of mine the criteria for mythopoeia according to J.R.R. Tolkien. This is in an attempt to prove that the show Avatar: The Last Airbender is representative of what Tolkien would describe as a “true myth.” I’m researching this show and comparing it to perhaps the greatest myth of all time, The Lord of the Rings, for a class called Psychological and Sociological Approaches to Modern Literature. As I do so, I have to pause in my explanation and marvel at what I get to learn. Perhaps it's the power of beauty that forced me to take a moment and reflect on how lucky I am to enjoy the opportunity I have received to absorb the knowledge found in my classes.
I’m a secondary education English major, so maybe mythmaking or mythopoeia doesn’t sound appealing to you, but to me it has been an amazing discovery. Even so, my pause came with a critical question. Tilting my head to one side, I studied the friend who was sitting across from me. His legs were propped up by the chair beside him and he kept adjusting his mask to properly hang on his nose. The walls surrounding us were entirely green and I couldn’t help but feel a relation to them while I considered myself in the vocational field of my choice. Rhetorically, I verbally questioned, “How am I going to prove the applicability of this content in the classroom?”
The plan is to teach English to high school students, ages 14-18. I wouldn’t be able to count on one hand the amount of times in high school I, or one of my classmates, spoke the words, “why do I need to learn this?” Now, as an English major I’ve found the capabilities information similar to this has had. In my mind, I know its worth. Knowledge is beyond comparison of “worthiness.” It expands not only an individual's academic comprehension, but also their perception of the world. On the topics of myths specifically, they allow for one to step into the world of another's imagination by enhancing your own. There are countless studies highlighting the positive functions an active imagination can have on an individual.
I know I probably need to slow down, but this highlights the very reason I asked the question to my friend sitting across from me with his feet propped up on a chair and a very green wall behind him. Who also, by the way, is not an English major and was starting to form a glazed look in his eyes. Needless to say, it got me thinking about the explanation behind what we learn in school. We may be able to form it in our minds, but it’s something entirely different to explain it to a friend. Before I knew I wanted to teach, I was often asked what I was going to do with an English degree. People often say this when it comes to a generic biology or math, psychology, and especially English degree. However, it’s not necessarily about what you’re going to do with your degree. It’s about what you’re going to do with the knowledge you obtained from your degree, and whether or not that knowledge is sustainable in your field.
As I look back at the classes and information I’ve obtained while at Concordia University Nebraska, I can confidently say that I’ve learned the knowledge I need to excel in my occupational field. So, how am I going to prove the applicability of this content in the classroom? It’ll speak for itself as the years accumulate just as the content I learned in school has for me. I can proudly say that, yes, my major is applicable. How about yours?