Linguistics
(MAJOR)
Coming into the UW I would never have imagined myself leaving with a major in Linguistics. I didn't even know such a field existed. In reality, I more-or-less 'stumbled' into the Linguistics department around the end of my second year at the University. My best friend from high school was majoring in Linguistics at her Virginia university and I realized, upon looking at the requirements, that I was already well on my way to acquiring such a degree for myself, as well.
Having spent the past two years studying Japanese for the fun of it, and having decided by this point to pursue departmental honors in Comparative Religion (requiring the study of two years of a scriptural language), I found that I would already meet all of the language requirements for the major. I decided that such a head start deserved finishing and enrolled in the introductory course (Ling400: Linguistic Methods and Theories) to see how I felt about the rest of the areas of study which made up the major. I won't necessarily say that I "fell in love" with Linguistics. I did find it interesting enough to continue with the major. It presented a very unique challenge to me being a strange combination of technical skills and social sciences. Some of the most difficult classes I've taken during my time at the UW were with the Linguistics department (particularly Phonetics and Syntax). On the other hand, the greater structure of the Linguistics major (compared to that of the Comparative Religion department which allowed for much more individual choice in choosing courses with few "required" classes) meant that I made more friends than I had in my previous years as we saw each other quarter-after-quarter fulfilling the required course load. This was particularly meaningful for me, as I have trouble easily making friends and, as a result, had very few by this point in my university career. |
Cover image: Visual representation of sound wave of myself saying, "Linguistics"