Recruiting for the Dark Side

I've recently written about the mixed feelings I have when students want to study literature, or not. I'm often tempted to lure a beloved student away from his chosen major to come to the Dark Side. But I stop myself—I don't need a good student's lifetime of struggle on my conscience.

***

Recently, I recalled Mrs. Dorsey, my TA for a CORE class in Women's Lit. Mrs. Dorsey was a returning student—she was probably in her early sixties—working toward her Ph.D. After the course ended, in an email I revealed to her that I was majoring in architecture. Her reply was almost immediate: why architecture? She knew I had a love of literature, so why not make it my life? She ended the email with a sentence I'll never forget: "I guess English's loss is architecture's gain."

Over the next day or two, the seeds began to germinate. Well, I wrote, what could I do with a degree in English, anyway? Her response was lengthy and bulleted. Her campaign had begun.

By the end of the summer, I had decided to change my major to English and figure the rest out later. I thrived in my lit classes, I was accepted into the creative writing concentration, and I excelled as a peer tutor.

I should have been an English major all along.

***

Ten years later, I remember Mrs. Dorsey with fondness. I give thanks to the Fates for leading me on that wayward path to an English degree, and eventually to a career in teaching. I can't imagine doing anything else.

So maybe ours isn't the Dark Side. Maybe I need to be someone else's Mrs. Dorsey and plant those seeds of change.