2003-05-05 - 2:40 p.m.
A Lesson LearnedBack when I was a 21-y.o. returning student at the University of Pittsburgh, I signed up for a U.S. women's history class with a prominent feminist historian. Let's call her Kate. Kate was a hardass: Tons of reading, 30 written pages due at the end of the semester, and an attitude. She had no time for "well, like, you know, whatever." She was great.
Unfortunately, my hectic schedule at the time required me to withdraw from her class. Withdrawing made me feel like a heel, like a quitter. But I didn't want to go insane as the semester went on, which could have happened with the other 100 pages of writing due from me that term. The day I withdrew, I went to Kate's office to tell her. She said she understood, but I could tell she was disappointed; she and I both knew that I was taking the easy way out. A mentor, Kate asked me what it was I was trying to accomplish in life. I didn't know. For some reason, I remember telling Kate, "I'd like to write about my life, though. Like a memoir." I'd just returned from 8 months in Prague; instant depth, right? Not to Kate. "You seem pretty young," she said. "People who write memoirs usually have had experiences." She was saying I was too young to say anything substantial. At the time, I was miffed by Kate's comment. But now I know exactly what she was talking about. It's something I've thought about a lot lately, which is why you haven't seen anything new on this site for some time.
� �
Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse. � Lily Tomlin
|
previous - next
All original work copyright 2003 by L'Apple Productionz.
|