For the Love of Learning

Throughout my life, I have kept many of my passions a secret. I believed that their exposure would be detrimental to my social status. Now, being mature enough to understand that popularity is not nearly as important as I once thought, I have decided to periodically confess my guilty pleasures. This is one of those confessions:

One of my earliest memories of school is from third grade. Every day after lunch recess my classmates and I would enter the classroom and a math worksheet would await us on our desks. We were instructed to complete it, and upon completion were entitled to “free time”, during which we were free to play with any of the games in the classroom, read or socialize.

This was my favourite part of the day. A boy in my class named Logan and I would race to see who could finish the worksheet first. I didn’t win every time, but between him and I one of us was always the first of the class to finish. It felt great to speed through it, mind working in top gear. On the days that I was first to finish, I felt like a champion as I walked up to Mrs. Gallant’s desk to hand her the sheet, all eyes on me.

I have always enjoyed my education as much as I did in the third grade, but as I grew older I was not as quick to show it. I would make excuses on school-nights to get out of hanging out with friends so that I could focus on my homework and complete it to perfection. Throughout elementary school I received straight A’s almost every year. My teachers would always show me praise, but encouraged me to apply my knowledge in class discussions. I feared that this involvement would put me into the category of a nerd or geek. This translated to high school where I continued to hide my love of learning.  My grades fell slightly due to lack of participation, but my pursuit of knowledge stayed strong.

Just as I have always looked forward to each school year, I look forward to working towards a university degree in the next few years. My mind is as spongy as ever, and I intend to soak up as much as I can.

Max Carrington is a 21 year-old writing student. In his spare time he can be found in the gym, at the movies, playing sports, listening to music or nestled in a comfortable spot reading literature.

Some blogs Max follows: 

Dork Shelf l Modern Superior l The Movie Blog

A Misunderstood Film Enthusiast

Throughout my life, I have kept many of my passions a secret. I believed that their exposure would be detrimental to my social status. Now, being mature enough to understand that popularity is not nearly as important as I once thought, I have decided to periodically confess my guilty pleasures. This is one of those confessions:

The Thing (1982)

My earliest memory of film is seeing The Lion King with my grandmother, mother and sister. I was very young—three years old I believe—but I do remember the joy that I felt while in that theatre. The lights went down and though frightened at first, I succumbed to the comfort of this darkness and became entranced by the giant screen in front of me. I was thrown into the jungle with Simba and his family and became emotionally involved with the story—so much so that I screamed at the characters, trying to aid them in their ventures. The sounds of the film surrounded me and the darkness made everything vanish except me and the screen—the story—the art.

Since my first experience I have grown to love many films. Some of my favourites include Ghostbusters, Home Alone, Night of the Creeps, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and Citizen Kane. All of these titles have something in common—they are all older than I am. This is a trend when listing my favourites; I have grown to appreciate older films.

This is more than I can say for many of my friends. Their taste in movies is more geared toward action and comedy of the current era, which I too admire in some cases. However, they do not tend to be crazy about my favourites. Once I decided to dip my toe in the water and lend my copy of The Thing to a couple of buddies who were looking for something to watch. With the return of the movie came laughter and teasing. With this I became quite embarrassed and decided to keep my movie preferences to myself. And I did so for quite some time.

I have since begun to understand that movie preference is not something to be embarrassed about or something that defines a friendship. It is merely one thing within a sea of likeness that sets me apart from my closest friends, and I have accepted that, and they will too. 

Max Carrington is a 21 year-old writing student. In his spare time he can be found in the gym, at the movies, playing sports, listening to music or nestled in a comfortable spot reading literature.

Some blogs Max follows: 

Dork Shelf l Modern Superior l The Movie Blog