I have not used the degree that I received in college to get a job. In that sense it is a useless degree, but I do not regret choosing to get an undergraduate degree in French and Spanish. Mostly I have been selfish in my use of my language abilities. I mostly used it in watching films and occasionally reading in other languages. I do not think that I would be a good language teacher. For me learning languages comes easily. I realize that everyone has their own area of expertise, and not everyone has that capability. I still would not have the patience to teach languages. It is difficult for me to completely grasp someone else having difficulty with something that is easy for me. I did struggle learning Latin, because the main focus was on translation. My focus in learning languages has always been on learning to think in the languages not on translating from one language to another. Since then language has become more focused on that. I had thought at one time of being a translator or interpreter, but I have difficulty translating. I may understand things in other languages, but to translate from one language to another is not something I enjoy or do very well. I prefer to immerse myself in other languages, and to translate for me is like being in the shallow end of a pool. You have contact with the language, but you do not have the total immersion that I enjoy so much. I do not look down on people who do not learn languages easily. I just cannot fully comprehend not being able to do so. Part of this may stem from my not thinking of myself as being more intelligent than other people. I try to avoid comparing myself to other people, but I think we all do that from time to time.
I considered changing my major to music history at the urging of a professor who taught a class I took in Twentieth Century Music. This was at the end of my sophomore year. I even met with the head of the music history department. One of the reasons for which I did not change my major was that he was a condescending prick. I would have had to deal with him a lot if I had gone to that department. He assumed that I could not sing well enough to make it into the school of music, because I had not had private music lessons. He had not heard me sing, and I had been told that I had a goo voice. (I am long out of practice now.) Another reason I did not change my major was that I would have had to go to school for four more years. I would have also had to have a recital and write a thesis. I am glad that I stuck with French and Spanish. I did not abandon my love for music, and I have expanded my taste in music since then.
Another time a professor in the dance department tried to get me to change my major to dance. A friend had choreographed a piece for a class he took, and she taught that class. He had only people who had not studied dance to perform in the piece. I worked with him as he was doing the choreography. The piece that he used was the harpsichord concerto by Manuel de Falla. He had each of us combine animal movements with dance movements. The animal he chose for me was a monkey. She said that she could not believe that I had not studied dance. She said she liked my punk-like movements in the dance. I later learned that she rarely complimented people. I knew that I did not have the ability to fulfill the requirements for a degree in dance, but receiving that compliment did help my self esteem.
I may not have used my degree in ways related to work, but I have used it in other ways in my life. I still may use it in practical ways to help myself and others.
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