Notable Quote: Unknown English Professor

I remember in my first semester in college submitting an essay in an English Literature class. It came back with red professor markings all over.  It was lit up like a Christmas tree.  I think every sentence had either a grammatical error or an awkward construction, and probably spelling errors too since it was before word processors and spell check.  I asked the Professor afterward if this was really bad, and he said, “Ah, it's about typical freshman.” LOL.

In high school I wasn’t a great writer, but I wasn’t bad.  In retrospect I realized I had a natural ability to write, but I was never really taught grammar well (the teaching methods of the 1970s were horrible), and I have to admit I didn’t push myself to do so.  I certainly pushed myself in the sciences and math, but I kind of somewhat looked down on writing.  Somehow I still got good enough grades.  But when I made it to college, the acceptance criteria was upped a notch or two.  I wasn’t getting passed along.  In time I did learn to write, and hopefully I write a lot better than that freshman twit.

I really got a kick out of this quote I just came across:

I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.

               ~English Professor (Name Unknown), Ohio University

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