Am I the Only One with This Problem?

I have this little problem. I don't know what it's called, but I'll tell you what it does to me;

I'm going into Geology. That's an easier field, slightly, than Physics (the field I entered originally as a first semester freshman.) I am not very strong in either field, so I know I'm going to have to study very hard and not let up on myself in the slightest.

Now, even if you're not asking yourself this question, I'll pretend like you are;

"David, if science is so tough on you, then why are you getting involved with it? What's your academic strength anyway?"

I'll answer the second question first. (I thought you had only one question anyhow.)

My strength was English. I can't recall exactly which portion of the English section I did best on the ACT, but overall I scored a 34 in that section. In the science related sections, I scored either right at 18 ... or lower.

Now, that first question pops up again, this time phrased differently; "If you make a 34 in English (highest possible on that test is a 36), and in the sciences you score half that much, then why aren't you majoring in English?"

I love the English language. In fact, I love all forms of communication between people, whether it's English, Spanish (which I do speak, but have allowed myself to forget a lot of), or any other language I'd like to learn, or music ... whatever people do to convey thoughts and feelings.

To answer that question, and not jerk you around any more than I have already, I've come up with this analogy;

Let's say you love animals, in particular pigs or cows. When people find out about this, do they ask, "Oh! I know of a great little job you can get dealing with those animals all the time. It's the slaughterhouse my grandparents take their animals to. Why not get a job there?"

Oh, really? Not only NO, but you ended a sentence in a preposition!

I hope I'm exaggerating that a little bit. As soon as I delude myself into believing there is no one on Earth who would say such a thing to an animal lover, I forget that they might not only exist, but they probably write for Malcolm in the Middle.

But, the way an animal lover feels about working in a slaughterhouse is the way I feel about getting a degree in English.

I will never cease to wince (in increasing degrees from least to most on this list) when anyone uses the word "conference" as a verb, the word "reference" as a verb, or the word "utilize" at all. In fact, on the last reference ("reference" is a freakin' noun! "Refer" is the verb!), I get nausea. My reaction to any more than one syllable for the word "use" is that strong. Why use "utilize" when you can utilize "use"?

(Pardon me, but I have to go gargle and brush my teeth for a few hours.........All right, I'm back. My teeth are still gritty, but at least they're minty fresh. I'm thankful I don't have a girlfriend right now. I could hear her asking, "Honey, did you barf a Julep again?")

There you have it. I chose the sciences, not because I liked them any better, and not because the people in the sciences are any better about the use of the English language. In fact, my Geology professor, as I was turning in my first paper the other day, said about the articles I used as research for that paper, "I don't care what style you use, just so long as the articles are well referenced."

I let that slide like so many boulders into a wealthy housing development in Southern California. He's a Ph.D.; I'm a 31 year old, fourth semester freshman. I'm old enough to know when and how to pick my battles.