I remember that back in middle school, I was such a bookworm that I was in the school library every morning returning a book and borrowing a new one to read for the day.  I participated in the Accelerated Reader Program in seventh and eighth grade, and in both years, I had accumulated the highest points for the school year.  But that was about four and a half years ago, and in all honesty, I have felt that I have “outgrown” reading books.  In high school, I barely read any books.  I read more Pinkmonkeys and Sparknotes more than I ever read any of the required reading books.  I just felt that between soccer, tennis, Red Cross, Student Council, French newspaper, Honor Society--yadah, yadah, yadah...you name the club, and I was in it--that I had no time to pick up any book.  But lo and behold, suprising even myself, I have found that my English 282 Fiction class has to be my favorite class for this semester.

It is a pretty demanding course.  I have to read ten books for the semester, and the books aren’t jokes.  The list includes Faulkner, Rushdie, Conrad, and Kundera.  Besides Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the books have been pretty hard reads—I’m not even going to go into how difficult Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! was.  But hard as the books have been, I’ve actually found myself reading them.  YES, I’M BACK TO READING BOOKS AND LOVING IT!  Mrs. Chandler, my senior year English teacher, would be so proud to hear me say that.

I’d have to give credit where it is due, however, because this sudden urge to read is definitely not my own doing especially when the books are so complex.  He is witty and clever, he is funny and interesting, and best of all, he is my professor.  Professor Mark Sibley-Jones makes running to Flinn Hall every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1:22 (the class starts at 1:25 but Flinn is just right next door to Maxcy) worth it.  A lot of the time, I don’t understand the books we are reading, but I know that every time I go to class somehow it will all make sense.  I think it would be a good assumption to say that he knows his “stuff” pretty well, and if not, he sure does know how to make it all look good.  Also, there are only eighteen of us in the class so discussions go very well.  The discussions are good, and in that way, my classmates also help me out in learning the material.  These are two reasons of many why I like being in the Honors College—I get to enjoy small classes and great professors.  The idea of sitting in an auditorium filled with 299 other students and a professor running through PowerPoint slideshows just does not appeal to me, even if it does mean that I can sleep in class or even skip it and my professor would probably never even know.

So yea, just when I thought I was done with books and that Pinkmonkeys are the best animals in this world, here I am delving into another book and actually enjoying it.  I encourage you to apply for the Honors College.  Not only will it be a great looking diploma after four years but you will be able to engage in your classes even better.  I encourage you to also read books—Pinkmonkeys are awesome but you just don’t get out as much from it as you actually do when you read a book.  Lastly, I recommend taking a class with Sibley-Jones when you get here.  It’ll be time and tuition money well spent.

Catch y’all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!