The Academic Struggle, Kate Harding

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The Academic Struggle, Kate Harding
Our teacher, Mr. White, was that unyielding fellow adored and hated in equal measure. Obviously, I was crazy about him, though the assertiveness seemed entirely conjoint in both aspects. Considering the recommendation letter he wrote for me, he had a deeper understanding of my attitude described as superficial when my parents’ perspectives, and the adults I had come to know were involved. The two line that outrightly depict this was the one explaining my true form. He said,
“Kate will never be a cheerleader, but she has a genuine passion for learning. She is inseparable from the books, usually not the assigned texts.”
I hold dear that line of ‘assigned text’ offering more of a passive-aggressive nature carefully intertwined, but also inseparable. True to this statement is my experience I garnered with Mr. White in his English Literature classes I undertook prior completing my B.A. I had several texts to read and assess not to mention the assignments I had to hand in the following classes. Much cannot be said of fulfilling this task, but arguably, I could have read about a third of the assigned texts with patchy assignments to hand in for my eventual grade. My inquisitive nature made me yearn for books that revolved around my interests. Frisking past the third page of a book not within my scope of interest would be miraculous. It was like going to the zoo and being told to watch only the rats. Why can’t I also watch the beautiful giraffes? And have a taste of the important gritty of life.
Assigned books well within my interest augured well for my worthwhile venture. I understood well how exhilarating it would be to hold Tom Robbins’ Twisted Sense of Humor, Stephen King’s Evocative Descriptions and Zippy, Foul-mouthed Dialogue; J.D. Salinger’s Angsty, Gifted Teens. They made me adhere to my literary diet, the kind that made me ignore my assignments, however urgent, just to sync with my literary world. Assignments did not freak me out nor was I anti-assignment when the book I am assigned on the syllabus evolved around my literary diet. My favorite at 13 was Lord of the Flies. I also ‘ate’ Ordinary People- which explains the case of a depressed kid residing in the leafy suburbs of Chicago, but could n...