Whenever I tell people what I’m studying at UC Berkeley, I’m always met with a puzzled look and the question, “Well, what do you want to do with that?” It’s not often that you meet someone double majoring in English and public health and minoring in journalism — as far as I know, I’m the only one!
The short answer as to why I decided to pursue a double major in English and public health is that I’m indecisive. I enjoyed almost every subject in high school (excluding chemistry), and after two years in college, I still couldn’t bring myself to choose just one. But somehow in my brain, all of these disciplines overlap and inform each other in meaningful ways.
As someone who’s dealt with her fair share of health issues, I care a great deal about the promotion of health for all. I enjoy public health because it allows me to not only understand my own physiology, but the way I exist in the world. Oddly enough, I was drawn to English for similar reasons. Literature represents the human condition across time periods and contexts; it lends us access to the thoughts of the living and the dead, and in the process, helps us understand ourselves.
Even though my two majors don’t overlap in course requirements per se, they do intermingle in my mind. Currently, I’m taking a public health elective called “Sex, Death, and Data,” where I learn about trends in fertility and mortality. At the same time, I’m writing my English Honors thesis on the representation of wombs as tombs — again, a question of sex and death. Through my work, I seek to explore the boundary between life and death as it’s understood in both novels and numbers, and I allow my research in both disciplines to guide my thought process.
“I find myself working at an unexpected intersection that’s exhilarating, but often misunderstood.”
Lauren Harvey
When I say I have the coolest major combo, I really mean it. Who else learns about obstetric practices and rituals in 17th century England and applies them to their reading of Paradise Lost? Who else reads Frankenstein and research on family planning and then finds the ways in which they overlap? I find myself working at an unexpected intersection that’s exhilarating, but often misunderstood. Of all the paths I could’ve chosen, I’m glad I went with this one.
As for what I want to do in the future, I’m still not entirely sure. I can see myself furthering my research in the health humanities, but I also see myself working in a communications role for a health company. My path may be untraditional, but that’s what I like about it. I’m actively searching for new opportunities that combine my passions for health and the written word, and I can’t wait to see where they take me.
So for those of you struggling to choose your majors, don’t be afraid to go after the unexpected. People may not get it, but that’s perfectly okay! Only you know your interests and what will make you happy in the long run. And who knows — you may just find that your major combo isn’t so strange after all.