English Language and Culture alumni Maria-Saskia Pähn: perseverance is key
I chose English Language and Culture as my major because I felt it was something I was already good at, something that interested me, and also something that would offer a wide array of topics and classes. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect coming to University, but the expectations I did have were exceeded by the program.
One thing I enjoyed a lot were the group projects, and there were many of them. It gave me different insights and perspectives to different issues and questions, which in turn widened my worldview quite a lot. Another thing I enjoyed was the creative freedom students were afforded on quite many works and projects, and also the use of different kinds of media and technology gave a modern twist to learning.
I think the most important thing I got from this program is the want and need to learn, and keep learning. When you study something you enjoy, it often doesn’t seem hard at all because your drive and motivation are just so high, and that is what happened to me.
I conducted my internship in Tallinn University, as a social media content creator and promoter of the English Language and Culture specialty. It was an incredibly fun and interesting experience, during which I got to create TikTok videos and Instagram posts about the English major, as well as conduct videos with my English educators, and write blog posts. The internship offered a great variety of themes to tackle, and I am glad I chose this particular internship.
I minored in Environment and Society, and it was the best choice I could have made. It is a relatively new minor, and sometimes overlooked by students, but I would argue the minor deserves more attention, if only for the simple fact of relevancy. The topics of climate change, sustainability, nature conservation and environmental communication are very prevalent in our society, and this minor offers a student access to all these topics and more. Since a lot of the study material in this minor is in English, and some classes are in English as well, my major mainly gave me the tools to understand and interpret different things from a Humanities perspective. My minor, in turn, offered me a lot of scientific perspectives. I would highly recommend this combination of major and minor to new students.
My advice to anyone wanting to come study this major is simply to be ready for the fact that you will not enjoy every single course, or every single subject of study. In my experience, some students quit too fast because they do not like one course, even if they like all other courses. I do not recommend doing that because even if you find you do not enjoy one or two courses, it is a small percentage of what you will actually learn in University. You may not enjoy it, but nevertheless the course will teach you something important. Perseverance is key.