Hello! I am Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov. You might recognize my alias name - it's from one of my favorite novels, The Brothers Karamazov, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Of the three brothers that the novel centers around, I was most able to relate to Ivan. He was critical, scholarly, and introspective. That doesn't really describe the whole of me, but it definitely covers my at-school persona. I don't know why. School has always been a very serious place to me. I left high school with a 4.3 gpa and sought out expensive private schools so that I could surround myself with the same type of students. That didn't happen. I wasn't offered financial aid and I decided ultimately that $200,000 (Reed College: Portland, OR) in student loans was not the most sound investment that I could make.
I've had a girlfriend since high school whom I love very much. I have a cat - Darcy. Yes, she is named after the dark, ominous character in Pride and Prejudice. If you knew her, you'd understand. I read lots and lots of novels and I work at the Roseville Galleria as a supervisor at a toy store.
As far as my experience with public speaking goes... well, it's limited. I was the National Honor Society Vice President at my high school, which entailed some public speaking (Induction ceremonies, weekly meetings), but I have never particularly enjoyed speaking to crowds. I love writing speeches, but not speaking speeches. Basically, I would much prefer to be a ghost writer than the guy at the podium. I suppose that's my goal for this class: to love both elements of communication and to be able to carry them out deftly and confidently.
After hearing all of the introductions at our first meeting, I am confident that I will learn to love speaking. You guys were great and a couple of you actually made me laugh out loud, which is unprecedented.
I apologize for posting this on Sunday. I didn't mean to hold this off until the last minute, but I had to attend a wedding in San Jose. Just got back around midnight last night. I'll be one of the ones you can count on to have posts in the first couple days. I used to blog all the time throughout high school and, as you can already see, I love writing.
Cheers,
Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov
As a fan of "The Brothers Karamazov" and Dostoevsky in general I was immediately interested by your alias. You seem to be well read, unless perhaps you have only ever read two books and they just happen to have been two great choices. However, being as you are an English major I strongly doubt that. You like writing and I like reading, so it looks as though we are off to a good start. Perhaps we'll soon be besties. Well, I suppose that's only possible if I promise to never use the word "besties" again. I am looking forward to a semester together and will do my best to assure that our first class period won't be the last one during which you find yourself laughing out loud.
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