To be an English Major in college, you need to be able to read, write, listen and discuss. In High School I was good at all of these which is why I decided to become an English major when I got to college. It was the only thing I was good at.
However in College, I was only good at 2 of those. I was good at writing and good at listening. I was also really, REALLY good at taking notes. You see in my college days, I was busy! REALLY BUSY!!! I was married, had a small child and a full time job working graveyard at night. Prior to that, I worked 3 jobs to pay for school so I didn't have any free time. Consequently, I got in the habit of NOT READING any of the assignments for my English classes (unless they were short. I read lots of poetry and short stories because I could fit those in to my hectic life). I went to class. I listened. I took detailed notes (I wrote down everything that was said in class). I even wrote long papers on these books I never read. I even got decent grades on these papers. I figured why read the books to get an A on a paper when I could not read them and get a B? I would like to think that if I had the time, I would have read the novels that were assigned, but as a young mother, wife and breadwinner, I was just tooo busy.
Believe it or not, I actually graduated and decided (because I had nothing better to do and wasn't ready or able to pay off my student loans yet) to go to graduate school in English. How in the world was I going to get into grad school having skated through undergraduate school not having read much?? Well, I found a school that didn't require the GRE (I would not have passed that!) or the foreign language requirement (I didn't do that as an Undergrad either).
It didn't get any better in Grad school. Although the papers and the BS I needed to sling were longer, my life wasn't any less busy. During grad school I ended up pregnant with Twins AND went through a divorce. Suffice it to say, I didn't read much then either.
I did eventually graduate with a Master's Degree in English Literature which I feel like I don't deserve. I have long felt like, I should go back and re-read (okay, I can't even say that. I didn't read it in the first place), I mean READ the novels that were assigned to me in school.
As I approach my big 4-0 birthday, I decided that I needed a goal and now was time. It was time to READ, even if the stuff I was reading was something I didn't want to read (think War and Peace. It's on the list.)
And so begins my trek. I am going to read 100 of the best novels ever written. (I can't remember all the things I was assigned so I needed some help for a list).
Here I go! Wish me luck or read along with me.
However in College, I was only good at 2 of those. I was good at writing and good at listening. I was also really, REALLY good at taking notes. You see in my college days, I was busy! REALLY BUSY!!! I was married, had a small child and a full time job working graveyard at night. Prior to that, I worked 3 jobs to pay for school so I didn't have any free time. Consequently, I got in the habit of NOT READING any of the assignments for my English classes (unless they were short. I read lots of poetry and short stories because I could fit those in to my hectic life). I went to class. I listened. I took detailed notes (I wrote down everything that was said in class). I even wrote long papers on these books I never read. I even got decent grades on these papers. I figured why read the books to get an A on a paper when I could not read them and get a B? I would like to think that if I had the time, I would have read the novels that were assigned, but as a young mother, wife and breadwinner, I was just tooo busy.
Believe it or not, I actually graduated and decided (because I had nothing better to do and wasn't ready or able to pay off my student loans yet) to go to graduate school in English. How in the world was I going to get into grad school having skated through undergraduate school not having read much?? Well, I found a school that didn't require the GRE (I would not have passed that!) or the foreign language requirement (I didn't do that as an Undergrad either).
It didn't get any better in Grad school. Although the papers and the BS I needed to sling were longer, my life wasn't any less busy. During grad school I ended up pregnant with Twins AND went through a divorce. Suffice it to say, I didn't read much then either.
I did eventually graduate with a Master's Degree in English Literature which I feel like I don't deserve. I have long felt like, I should go back and re-read (okay, I can't even say that. I didn't read it in the first place), I mean READ the novels that were assigned to me in school.
As I approach my big 4-0 birthday, I decided that I needed a goal and now was time. It was time to READ, even if the stuff I was reading was something I didn't want to read (think War and Peace. It's on the list.)
And so begins my trek. I am going to read 100 of the best novels ever written. (I can't remember all the things I was assigned so I needed some help for a list).
Here I go! Wish me luck or read along with me.
2 comments:
GOOD LUCK!!! READING GLASSES ARE HALF OFF IN COSTCO..
Hahahaah! You are sooo mean! I don't NEED glasses yet!
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