My First Encounter . . .

All through my life I've heard of the infamous William Shakespeare. The same William Shakespeare who turned high school English class into a living torture for its unsuspecting students. When my turn finally came, however, I found that it wasn't as bad as it seemed. I'm not sure if it was that I had a knack for actually understanding the language (that was for some reason labelled as English), or if it was the fun, quirky teacher that brought it to life. I'm leaning towards the second reason. My teacher had the courage to introduce a class of thirteen-year-olds to the madness of King Richard the Third. Yet, amidst the betrayals, beheading, and bemoaning of those killed I found that I couldn't wait to see how it all ended. Of course the evil Richard was going to be dethroned, but how much madness could he create before it finally caught up to him? And thus, my curiosity was sparked.

Now, they often say curiosity killed the cat. If that's true, then I should only have myself to blame for signing up to study Shakespeare. By the time high school had ended I had thouroughly studied Richard the Third, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, and Hamlet. And yet, that wasn't enough. I was like the monkey who'd reached into the jar and would rather be caught than let go of the food he'd found. And that's what has brought me here. I'm about to dive head-first into the complex world of William Shakespeare.

I hope I'm up for the challenge.