Guess what? Your major probably doesn’t matter.

Wait, let me re-phrase that. If you’re in the College of Arts and Sciences, your major probably doesn’t matter.

I majored in French and comparative literature, and yet I’m going into journalism. It was a lucky accident that I found this calling, and thank goodness that I did. It suddenly became much easier to answer the question, “What are you doing with your life?” When people hear French and comparative literature, they think you’re going to be some sort of professor and go into a life of academics.

I chose French and comparative literature simply because I was good at French and liked to read interesting novels in high school. I knew that I wanted to continue my studies in both. Am I necessarily passionate about either? Maybe not.

But I absolutely do not regret it.

College is the last time you’ll ever be able to study what you want to study, unless you pursue a postgraduate degree. Even then, people usually choose their postgraduate studies based on how they want their careers to shape up.

If I majored in journalism, or went to a graduate school in journalism, I think I would run the risk of getting tired of this. And when else in life would I have learned about the works of Balzac, the imperfect subjunctive and Filipino diaspora youth literature?

In the long run, my majors probably won’t matter in my future career. But they have enriched my collegiate career, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Reach managing editor Arla Shephard at manager@dailyuw.com.