By Michelle Tran — High school English teacher. Used to hate English class.
Last updated: April 2026
I hated English class in high school.
The required books felt old and boring. The essays felt pointless. The discussions felt like people pretending to understand things they did not actually understand.
I sat in the back. I did the minimum. I got B’s and C’s. I counted down the days until I never had to read another “classic novel” again.
Then something unexpected happened. In college, I took a literature class by accident. I needed to fill a requirement. I chose the one that fit my schedule.
That class changed everything. Not because the books were different. Because the way we talked about them was different.
What Was Different in College
In high school, English class felt like a game. The teacher had a correct interpretation. You had to guess what it was. Then you wrote it down on a test.
In college, the professor asked questions and actually wanted to hear what we thought. There was no single right answer. There were good arguments and weak arguments. But your opinion counted if you could support it.
That small shift changed how I saw reading. It was not about finding the hidden meaning the teacher already knew. It was about figuring out what I thought.
For the first time, I actually enjoyed talking about a book.
The Book That Changed My Mind
The book was The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. It is about the Vietnam War. But it is also about storytelling. About why people tell stories. About how truth is not the same as facts.
I remember staying up late to finish it. Not because I had to. Because I wanted to.
After that, I kept reading. Not for class. On my own. I read other books by O’Brien. Then books he mentioned in interviews. Then books by authors who wrote about similar things.
Within two years, I had changed my major to English.
What I Learned About Disliking a Subject
I used to think I hated English. Now I think I just hated how it was taught.
The subject was not the problem. The class was. The pace. The tests. The feeling that there was one right answer and I was supposed to guess it.
That realization changed how I teach now. I am a high school English teacher. I try to do things differently.
- I ask questions I do not know the answer to.
- I let students argue with each other.
- I grade based on thinking, not on guessing what I want.
- I let them choose some of the books we read.
Not every student loves my class. Some still hate English. That is fine. But fewer of them leave thinking the subject itself is the problem.
What I Am Not Saying
I am not saying every subject you hate in school will become your career. Most will not.
I am not saying bad teachers are the only problem. Sometimes you just do not like the subject. That is fine too.
I am not saying you should force yourself to like something. If you hate math, you hate math. That is allowed.
I am just saying: if you hate a subject, try to notice what exactly you hate. Is it the subject itself? Or is it the way it is being taught? Those are two different things.
A Question Worth Asking
If you are a student and you dislike a class, ask yourself: would I like this subject if no one was grading me?
If the answer is yes, the problem might be the class, not the subject. You might come back to it later, on your own terms.
If the answer is no, you genuinely do not care about the material. That is fine too. Not everything is for everyone.
The Bottom Line
I hated English class in high school. Now I teach it.
The subject did not change. I changed. And the way I was taught changed.
If you hate a subject right now, do not assume you will hate it forever. You might just need a different teacher, a different book, or a different version of yourself.
Or you might hate it forever. That is also fine. But at least you will know the difference.
About the author: Michelle Tran teaches high school English. She was not a good English student in high school. She writes about education from her own experience as both a reluctant learner and now a teacher.
This article reflects personal experience. Every student and classroom is different. What worked for one person may not work for another.
