More than 40 students jammed into a classroom in Goldwin Smith Hall and spilled out into the hallway one afternoon in late March to hear faculty and staff give concrete advice on the many practical uses for an English degree.

The panel -- titled with the age-old question "What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?" -- was presented by the English Club.

"There are a lot of options out there that students either don't encounter or don't hear about through the usual channels of the Career Center," said Bekah Grant '08, who organized the panel with English Club co-president Kayla Rakowski '08.

"I think English students often need guidance because there aren't a lot of resources to help someone who wants to be a writer or go into publishing," Grant said. "The professors gave valuable advice, such as if you want to be a writer, try teaching high school to support yourself because you get paid summers off to write."

Panel members were Daniel Schwarz, professor of English literature and the club's adviser; Ernesto Quiñonez, assistant professor of English; and Jonathan Hall of Cornell University Press.

"It is very enjoyable to immerse oneself with books, but parents [and students] want to know what the career opportunities are," Schwarz said. "Everybody wants to write the great novel, and teaching is another obvious career path."

He discussed the pleasures of university teaching, and presented other options including public or private secondary schools, teaching abroad with such programs as the Peace Corps or Teach for America, professional business writing and journalism. Some English students are pre-med, pre-law, or double majors, he noted.

Quiñonez spoke of his early career as a writer, and stressed the need to be tenacious. He once threw out a manuscript after several rejections, then retrieved it from the trash -- and it later became his first novel. He also underlined the value of teaching.

"[You] can teach, and it's very rewarding," he said. "Or you can go into publishing, but it doesn't pay much; you'll work in a nice office and meet all these glamorous people, but you're probably not going to get health care."

Panelists also gave tips on preparing for job interviews, and being ready to answer the question, "Why did you major in English?"

"I think there is so much value in a liberal arts education precisely because it provides so many options," Rakowski said. "We organized the panel to show our peers how many careers are not only available to them, but how and why employers are seeking people with their skill sets."

Schwarz said skills used in class can be valuable in any pursuit.

"Our students learn to read with perspicacity, to write well and lucidly and to speak articulately," he said. "Cornell's English major develops skills that are very transferable. Even if some of our majors go into medicine, law or business, later they may become leaders in the community and advocates for the humanities."

The panel "gave students hope," Grant said, "because they realized it is possible to do something other than law school, for example, and that you can be happy and successful doing it. [It was] an assurance that majoring in English is in no way a waste of an education nor a death sentence for the future."

The English Club's aim is to create a community of English majors outside the classroom, Grant said. The club operates under the auspices of Cornell's Department of English, and organizes academic panels (such as pursuing a Ph.D. in English or a Q&A about the major for freshmen), social events and cultural outings. For more information, contact Schwarz at 255-9313 or drs6@cornell.edu.