IMHO

I majored in comparative literature. It's the world's best excuse to read great books for four years. I'd always known I wanted to write, and I figured the best way to learn writing was to read great writers. It's like training for a sport--you do something over and over again until you don't even have to think about it, your muscle memory takes over. When you read, you hear the words in your head, you pick up the rhythms of literature, and from constant reading you get to a point where you can distinguish good writing from bad just from "hearing" it. Your teacher's job is to guide your reading and give you the tools with which to talk about literature. (Your parents' job is to dissuade you from choosing writing as a career, and try to convince you to go to law school. I'm serious. If you can withstand that kind of pressure, you can do it. Assuming that you have some writing ability.)