Did I Waste My Time?
By: Sarah Hampton
December 9, 2025.
Image taken by Rebeca Alvidrez
As I have begun approaching my impending graduation and full immersion into the “adult” world, I have pondered a multitude of ideas. I have considered multiple times the idea of dropping out of college. Is it truly worth the stress and the money? I have considered changing my major many times. Is English truly the subject of my degree that I want hanging on my wall for the rest of my life? Is an English degree really helpful for what career field I want to go into? At first, I used to think that it wasn’t. I used to believe that an English degree was an “easy” degree to obtain and that I wouldn’t even use it as soon as I step into my career. However, my mind has changed recently. After taking my WRIT 3109 (Careers Writing) course in college, I have learned that my degree is actually one of the most helpful degrees to have in the career field that I want to go into. I have learned that an English degree is valuable and that I have obtained skills with this degree that many others do not possess.
The career field that I am going into after I graduate is the field of ministry. This field is a bit interesting because there are a multitude of different jobs that you can do. What route I specifically want to go into is the discipleship route, especially for older students such as high schoolers and college students. Before I started this course, I used to tell people whenever they asked what I was studying in school that I was studying English and that I wasn’t going to end up using my degree in my career. However, I have found that I will be using my degree very much in my career. In this careers writing course, I have learned that those studying English have an upper hand, especially when it comes to public speaking skills, professional writing, and communication efforts. The job that I am working towards utilizes all of these skills. In my Professional Identity Statement and Marketable Skills list I stated that the career field of ministry requires someone to have skills in “communication strategy, event planning, graphic design, social media, creative displays, and leadership.” Many of these skills I have learned more about and have developed in this careers writing course.
Some of my favorite lessons that I have learned is the use of multimodal content, how to build a website, and how to create articles using creative sites such as Canva. Before this course, I wanted to find a way to display my portfolio of things that I had created in the past. I never knew how to get started but this course helped me dip my toes into the water. I learned how to build the website on which I am currently writing this blog post and how to creatively display not only my writing, but my photography, graphics, and articles as well. It has been such an exciting experience learning how to display my content that I once was so anxious about sharing with others.
One of my favorite pieces that I have written was produced by an assignment from this course. This assignment required us to create an infographic on a particular subject that we are passionate about. This infographic ended up being my post on “How Christian Is Generation Z?” I had a blast working on it and it helped me grow in my skills utilizing Canva. Thanks to this assignment, I was able to bring the research based passion project that I have been working on to life. I didn’t really know how to do that beforehand.
I once read in Madeline L’Engle’s book, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, about how a Christian faith and writing can go hand in hand. This was a book that I had the opportunity to read while simultaneously taking this course. One of the biggest lessons that I have learned is to not keep my writing hidden and in the dark. There is so much relief that comes from sharing your work with your peers. I used to have a lot of anxiety surrounding it, but this course has really helped me open up.
“In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do his work, to bear his glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there’s no danger that we will confuse God’s work with our own, or God’s glory with our own.”
This commentary truly helped me understand that at the end of the day, it’s not that big of a deal. If anything, sharing your work with others is a win for everyone involved. Not only are you getting potentially helpful feedback, there are some people out in the world who might genuinely appreciate and enjoy your work. You will never know until you share it.
I feel as though I have grown so much as a writer through this career based writing course. There were many times where I was challenged and stretched to write about things that I wasn’t necessarily passionate about. When it comes to my writing, I used to only really enjoy it if I was writing about something that I enjoyed. However, in this course I learned how to write in many different genres and forms. There were several projects that required us to turn some of our writing from the past into displayable content on our websites. Like mentioned before, I used to be terrified to display my writing anywhere online for others to see. Never did I think my short story, “Honeysuckle,” would ever see the light of day. I thought that I had buried that piece so deep into the depths of my personal drive and that no one would ever lay eyes on it, despite it being one of my favorite pieces I have written. I can now say that this piece has found a home within my writing portfolio displayed on this website, and constructive criticism is appreciated. Crazy.
Overall, I believe that I am a better writer thanks to this course. I know that I will be recommending this course to any of my fellow English major peers and friends. I also can confidently say that I did not waste my time obtaining my English degree. I can’t help but laugh when I think back to the days and nights I spent stressing over my major. One day I will look to the wall above my desk and see the frame that will hold that very important piece of paper. Instead of regret filling my mind, it will only be appreciation and affection for the four years I spent writing, reading, and learning about what I am truly passionate about.