One without the other doesn't mean a heck of a lot.

Last night, as I was driving home from Midlands Technical College where I teach English classes in the Developmental Studies Department (for which I don't get paid a hefty sum of cash, but that I absolutely love and enjoy doing regardless), I was listening to one of my fave radio stations. If you haven't picked up on it by now, I'm a fan of all things liberal, thus I love NPR (and my liberal arts education).

Anyways, Michel Martin was on the air with her show, "Tell Me More," where she was reporting on a study performed by Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce, entitled, "What's it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors." Her guest, Anthony Carnavale, the director of the department at Georgetown, was quite frank about the findings of the study. He explained that the value of a college education is, not surprisingly, much higher for some major fields of study than others. Further, earning potentials are segregated by gender and race. Duh. This is the USA. Look who, for the most part, runs the country. Old white guys.

Of course, I was ecstatic not ecstatic to learn that English and other majors in the humanities, education, sociology, and the like are really high low on the list of people who rake in the big bucks. Shockingly Not shockingly, dudes with business, computer, engineering, and other technical degrees are the ones who earn more over a lifetime. Great. Just great. So, scientific, mathematical, and technical majors are more profitable. Mr. Carnavale then explained that jobs where people help other people are those that don't pay large salaries. While it's not something I wanted to hear, it is something that's not new news.

Growing up in a family of educators, I've known this my whole life. And I always said I would never marry a teacher. I would never be a teacher.Yet, here I am. I married a teacher. (Thank goodness he's now the director of the Autism Academy of SC, so I can regurgitate those words.) I am now teaching... though I like to call myself an instructor because it makes me not have to chew on the second set of never words so long.

But, the thing is, I love English. I love writing. I love reading and discussing and considering theoretical aspects of literature. I love learning about the world through the eyes of authors from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and eras in history. I love the beauty and craftsmanship of the art of literature and being immersed in something that adds humanity and depth and brilliance to the world, something that is too often unavailable in a statistician's or business person's or computer tech's office. Those jobs are important, yes, in maintaining a healthy position in the global realm of world leadership and all that other blah blah blah stuff. But, so is art. So is language. People are not computers. We are people who live and love and laugh and cry and die. We need the arts and humanities. These things help give us purpose and understand each other and ourselves. They help define us.

Certainly, the interview was slightly saddening. The emphasis people place on making money more than experiencing the beauty in life is disheartening. In his final moments on air, Mr. Carnavale stated, "My fear is that it will, in the end, crowd out Shakespeare. I think that in a panic to make careers for themselves, people will not pay attention to the kinds of personal development that comes from taking these kinds of humanities, arts and other courses that are taken more for passion than they are for building pensions."

And, he's totally right. There has to be a balance. You should be able to provide for your family financially and enjoy a life that is rich in culture and history and language and the arts. If you have one without the other, it doesn't really work. It's not really worth it.