A "Useless" Degree

To describe what I have done with my bachelors degree in Liberal Arts-English, I will need to give a little background information to explain why I chose this degree. I never thought that my love of reading, writing and imagination would lead to anything other than a pleasurable hobby, and this is the story of a person who is constantly being surprised by what she can accomplish with the skills to communicate through what she writes.

When I was in high school, the world of working for a living had not yet reached the point where it was necessary to obtain a college degree to find and keep a good job and work from there into a career. It was still possible to start at an entry-level position and gain advancements through hard work and merit, alone. Since I hated school, and being in my late teens, thought I already knew everything, I was not interested in college. I chose to look for full-time work, so I could have the beautiful independence of a young adult.

Six years after graduation, I was divorced and supporting a little girl while waiting tables, and the lesson was learned. I had taken a year at college before, but I did not really accomplish much. However, this time, I was determined to go to school and get a degree that would allow me to raise my daughter with some level of comfort and security. I was not sure exactly what I wanted to do, but I was going to at least get started, so my general education requirements would be out of the way. I will not go into the rest of my personal life, other than to explain that my current husband came along during this time period, and he was one of my biggest supporters.

Not long after starting my first semester, I rediscovered my love for English, both grammar and literature. I decided that I wanted to become a teacher for the high school age.With the support of my family and friends, I set out to do just that. At the time, the college that I was attending was changing from Westark Community College into University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. I was going to have to get my associates degree, then I was going to have to commute to Fayetteville, Arkansas, in order to attend the University of Arkansas to complete a degree in education.

Fortunately, I was able to switch my degree from the transfer plan when the newly dubbed four-year University of Arkansas-Fort Smith finished and offered a bachelors degree in Liberal Art - English. Since this would save a commute for the local students, and there is a different way to start working as a teacher than completing a degree in education, this was the answer to a lot of students' prayers. In Arkansas, if a person has a bachelors degree in one subject, such as English, it is possible to take the Praxis tests (a series of tests that, if passed, grants the person a teaching certificate). The first test covers the persons basic skills, the second set covers the subject assessment, and the third is the actual teaching under observation of the school. As I understand it, in our area, student teaching in the education programs covers the third part.

For the people who are holding a bachelors degree in a subject without the education part, it is possible to take the first two of the Praxis series. Then it is also possible to find a school district that is willing to go through a non-traditional method that allows the person to begin teaching while completing the third part of the Praxis requirements under the observation of the sponsoring school. This was what I had planned to do. I did not want to wait until the college I was attending finished the English education degree plan to graduate from college. I had a growing family to support. At that point, I was simply using my degree to assist my daughter as she began learning to write paragraphs and journal entries for school.

I did go take the first round of Praxis tests, but I was not able to continue, since my husband and I had two new babies, and those tests are not offered free. I was stuck looking for something small and part-time to allow for the prohibitive cost of child care, as well, so I stayed home for several years. During this time, jobs for teachers became more and more scarce in our area. Between that problem and the cost of the remainder of the Praxis tests, it became necessary to find a job that would help our finances.

It was at this point that I discovered that having a bachelors degree can be a detriment in finding a job. I have been told by many people that employers do not like to have over-qualified employees for many reasons, such as the possibility of having that employee leave after the time and resources have been spent on training him, having attitude problems due to over-qualification and having to pay a higher salary due to the college degree. These reasons have been confided to me by the same employers who told me that some positions will hire a person with a degree as long as there is an existing degree. Can we say mixed messages?

Basically, to say what I have done with my bachelors degree in English is until April of 2009, nothing. It simply sat on my resume, and it helped me obtain interviews for positions within the Department of Health and Human Services, but having been a stay-home mother for several years was also a detriment in finding a job. I did have a job as a support technician for a website that taught me a lot about computers, Internet usage and legal research, but it really did not do much with my degree in English. In April of 2009, I was interviewed for a position at the Crawford County Adult Education Center in Van Buren, Arkansas, to be a teacher/tutor, though. I was very excited to find a position that would utilize the skills that I was taught through my college degree.

While this position does not pay what a teacher would make in the regular school district, it does allow flexibility in hours, and since I am the mother of three, two of whom have special needs, this is an excellent opportunity for me to use the education that I obtained while still being available to my family for their needs. Not long after I started working at this position, I found Associated Content.com through an article in First For Women Magazine, which allows me to use the writing skills that I learned through my college degree in so many different ways. I am also through both methods able to continue my own learning. Who knew I would ever be able to help people with math?

I am, however, constantly seeing new possibilities for my degree in English. I am currently researching freelance writing and editing assignments. I am also currently looking into research assignments, since I learned a lot about research in college. Legal research is now familiar to me, thanks to the stint as a support technician for an on-line legal library. I also have some experience as a medical transcriptionist, so again, the degree in English comes with a transcript that shows my classes in medical terminology. In other words, I will know how to spell the medical terms and use them in a grammatically correct manner.

What I have done with my bachelors degree has been more than I realized. I have used it to assist my daughter. I have used it to help students who are obtaining their GED's. I have used it to write business letters and emails at my last two jobs. I have entertained my family and friends by writing stories, and I have used it to help myself heal from loss. I am currently using the skills of research and writing to look into other ways to help my family finances while remaining available to their needs. These things may not be what I was looking to do when I signed the degree plan and began working on it, but they have been well worth it.