What I Learned

I almost have a Ph.D. in English. I am really only lacking my dissertation. I love books. Put me in a room surrounded by books and I am in heaven. Put me in a room with old books and I am in awe. Maybe I should have picked up a Library Science degree, huh?

One thing I learned in grad school was to pick literature apart. Not just books, also poetry. I can explicate a poem (which is really just a close reading) to the point of writing a good ten page paper on it. I actually wrote a thirty page paper once on three poems by the Cavalier poets. I don't remember which poems or which poets at this point.

My point is that I know how to analyze. That's pretty much what I learned. I analyze things to death sometimes. I also overthink situations. I've been known to still be trying to figure out what someone meant by something they said hours later. I guess there's good and bad things about being over-analytical. I spend a lot of time in my own head, usually going in circles, but not always. That's not necessarily good. I am also good at stepping back from situations and getting some perspective on them. I guess that's good.

I spent much of my childhood with my nose buried in a book learning from other people's experiences. Sometimes that's the best way to learn.