Once upon a time, a book lovers journey begun.A word of caution: this may end up being one of those nostalgic stories that earns a few eye-rolls.
Books have fascinated me ever since I was about 3 years old. At that point, I had just learned how to read words like "bat" and "dog", but I appreciated their value as written word. Well, as much as a toddler could. Eventually I learned to read my first book "The Little Red Hen." I like to think that one of my proudest moments was reading that book in its entirety to my Kindergarten classmates. I will admit, I felt like a queen that day.
That is essentially how my love affair with books began. I shared my kindergarten fun with Junie B. Jones and her friends, grew to appreciate Captain Underpants and his heroism, and timidly asked to share Nancy Drew's magnifying glass. Over time I grew pickier with my book choices. I turned my nose to Mia Thermopolis and her Cinderella-esque life, I peered out my window at Boo Radley's beaten porch, and I cried when Kostas broke Lena's heart. Nowadays I still go back and re-read some of my old favorites. Even so, it seems like every day I find a new, exciting story in which to immerse myself in true bibliophilic fashion.
Beyond books, I discovered poetry in high school. This is not your basic cut and dry Emily Dickinson or Shel Silverstein poetry (although I do have a soft spot for some Dickinson). I encountered the "Colossus of Rhodes" and "Ariel" through Sylvia Plath's eyes, I danced in the flow of Pablo Neruda's words, and found so many other poets that inspired me. Perhaps what has impressed me most is a type of poetry so raw and real, and so close to home: slam poetry. If you haven't seen slam poetry performed, you're in for an exhilarating (and possibly tear-inducing) experience.
Marie Rabuso before her summer reading.Even though I have a strong affection (the cuddly, happy-making kind) for literature, I'm currently majoring in Political Science (International Relations) and Statistics here at ASU. One day, I hope to do research and analysis for an international think-tank or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. It's a far cry from being a literature major, but actually my chosen career path sort of came from my love of reading.
In high school, I took a class called Theory of Knowledge and one of our final assignments was a group presentation about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. For our presentation we had to discuss the arguments against the hierarchy as well as the factual evidence. While my then-boyfriend attempted to disprove information in the hierarchy, I shot off quick and witty responses... in the spirit of Harry Potter's Hermione Granger. Like: "Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?" To make a long story short, my teacher told me I was great at dispelling arguments and suggested I become a lawyer, I spent my first year and a half of college in Washington, D.C., had a love affair with data charts, and here I am!
Blogging is a brand new adventure to me, besides, you know, Tumblr and stuff. Here, I plan to talk about authors and introduce you to some literature you may not have read or experienced before. At the same time I hope to learn more about literature myself, and share that with you all.
You can reach Marie at arabusa@asu.edu or via Twitter @marie_eo.
