About Being an English Major #1

    After the breathless classes were over, empty classrooms would be filled with the bright laughter of students having weekly club meeting. The chemistry club was so happy doing their experiments as if they knew how to make a certain kind of "happy gas" harmless to human bodies and were sharing it. During that time, I also learned economics could be a happy subject. However, as there was none except me willing to form an English club, I could not help being displaced from their happy terrirtories. Studying all by myself in the self-study room, the only comfort I could find was that they were not on regular basis.

    Looking back on my highschool days, I remember my innocent dreams of majoring in English were often butchered in my teachers' tongues. They were, even my English teachers were, well-trained experts in eradicating students' dreams of becoming English majors. I even felt sometimes their classes were merely meant to prove in depth how childish and stupid it is to dream of majoring in a foreign language.

    I was like an outsider, or even a betrayer. Having no friends who considers studying English in college, I had to share my linguistic interest and enthusiasm with my friends who love Japanese. In fact, at present, I am the only English major among my highschool friends, but I have three friends who are majoring in Japanese. As too absurd to believe this may seem, although people often say English is the world's strongest language,  it is at the same time the most shunned language to choose as a major in Korea.