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Reminder that studying litterature in college is the real life equivalent of dropping out of high school.
Well, I received an English BA Hons. and it's a pretty versatile degree. Plus with globalization and widespread immigration, English is a valuable skill to have and a lot of people need to learn it. The demand is there.
But as far as an MFA in Creative Writing is concerned, that's a different story. When I was studying English I wanted to publish literature but didn't do an MFA. I eventually reached that goal; I had a poetry book published and it's in a few public libraries as well as my university library. But I was published partially due to the people I met in university. I didn't need an MFA, as many believe. I was actually concerned that an MFA would limit my career opportunities based on how specific it is. That's not always the case, but still.
I'll admit that during those days I should've looked for more career opportunities. What you do outside of university is just as important as what you do inside of it, and with broad subject like English/literature, it's important to meet people and build your resume.
This is an interesting one. I have a PhD in English lit and work in academia (or aspire to, insert laugh-crying emoji here) so obviously I'm biased, but most English lit majors don't strike me as dropouts. At least here in China/Hong Kong (I've worked in both) it's a pretty brave choice which people usually make against the explicit discouragement of their parents, who want to see them do business or at least the 'hard' sciences, because the kids want to learn something that really interests them. This might be different in the US, admittedly.
As to job prospects, it is indeed not the smartest move, unless you want to stay in the university (in which case, it's still not the smartest move). But as Adam said, an English lit degree ideally gives you a pretty well-rounded education with a somewhat international outlook, so if you value that kind of thing it's worth doing. (Plus reading is awesome, of course, so it's well worth doing anyway imho).
Obviously, it won't hurt if you have one of the biggest sporting goods companies in the world pay you to skate while you're studying, either, especially if you're studying in a country where it will cost you a fortune. (In Germany and Hong Kong, I didn't have to pay a cent to get my degrees, so that's obviously a big factor.)
I like Suciu, and I don't think he should be ashamed to bring his ideas and his interest in literature into his parts. I love a well-thought out part and I can relate to the idea of building it around mirrored lines ( I absolutely love Creager's Menikmati part for this reason, for example), so I'm really looking forward to this.