Can someone please explain to me why, every time I walk away from an English and its Relatives test feeling as if I've done horribly, I get an A? ('Every time' being twice.) There are people in that class who work a lot harder than I do and seem to grasp the concepts better than I do, yet don't do half as well on the tests. A, who sits next to me, seemed to have studied really hard - she was explaining a lot of concepts to me before the test on Tuesday - and yet somehow I got an A- and she got a D-. Granted, there are also several people who've scored above a hundred both times, so it's not as if I'm the best in the class or anything, but I'm still mystified by how I can feel as if I know absolutely nothing and still walk away with an A. Knowing Dutch does give me an advantage on certain questions, but not enough of an advantage to make the difference between an A and a D. Ah, well, I guess it's better than the other way around (which is what usually happens in Language and Culture, where I'm certain I know absolutely everything and then get hit with an 85).

Speaking of English and its Relatives, I sent this speech to one of the professors in there yesterday (after I'd read it twice and nearly swooned with relief that there are still a precious few thinking people in this world), and he liked it as much as I did. If you consider yourself to be open-minded, I'd suggest you read it. It's one of those things I wanted to e-mail out to every single person I know, but I realized in time that only Mom and my sister would probably appreciate it (and maybe you and Uncle John too, Aunt Patsy, if you're reading :)). I understand and respect the importance of respecting all belief systems - hell, almost every single one of my friends is religious to some degree - but it is SUCH A RELIEF to come across people like the author of this speech! It's like - wow, people who think like I do! Imagine! We're a rare breed, and I'm so glad I have the parents I do (read: thinking people) and that I live in a university (read: liberal) town instead of being born to two of the 'general masses' of the South (read: conservative, close-minded rednecks) and being shipped off to some tiny Christian college to make sure I never got the chance to change. I know I sit with my head in my hands a lot of the time, wondering how on earth people can be so STUPID, but I guess a lot of them just really never get the chance to be any different. They were trained as children to think and believe a certain way, and the idea of stepping out of that once they got the chance just seemed, one way or the other, too scary. I recall one of my close friends in high school, near the end of our year of intensive International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement biology courses, declaring that she still didn't believe we had evolved from apes and intended to write her Extended Essay on the Creationist theory. There are no words to express how angry and disappointed I was - that in the face of such overwhelming evidence, with the superior intellect that she, like all of us, had, that she would still choose the 'safe route', where there's always an explanation or justification, where thinking for yourself is never truly necessary.

(And yes, she is now attending a tiny religious college, in case you were wondering.)

Well, I didn't intend to ramble on so long about this, but now that I have, it's time for me to study some math, go to swim practice, then go take my evening math exam. The descriptions of the cold, rainy weather, my awesome TriGators shirt, and my freshly multicolored big toenail (thanks, large girl in swim class) will have to wait for another day.