Learnin' and Burnin'

"Every time I learn something new, it pushes something old out of my brain. Remember when I took that home wine-making course and I forgot how to drive?" "You were drunk!" "And how!"

This exchange comes from the episode "Secrets of a Successful Marriage," a stellar episode. This is Homer talking to Marge trying to find out how education is going to make him smarter. A great quote for what's happening to me currently.

I am currently about three semesters away from graduating with a bachelor's degree. I'm arriving at the point in my education where I don't think I can cram one more little piece of information into my brain (Come to think of it, there's probably plenty of room in there once I clear out these Simpsons' quotes, but what are you gonna do?).

When I was younger, it seemed that tidbits of information could be stored infinitely inside my cranium. I would hear or learn something, and suddenly it was there forever. It is because of this that I can remember who won the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolution or who won Super Bowl I. But earlier this week, I went to take a midterm and wound up realizing my usual method for learning had for the first time that I can remember had failed me. I looked at the midterm, its letters seemingly reformed to say "Game Over, Mate" in the shape of a frog with an Australian accent (another Simpsons thing) and that's about all I saw for some time.

Convinced that all I had to do was rearrange some stuff up there, I began to rack my brain. Little snapshots of things flashed by and I was able to scratch out some kind of answer. I'm afraid I'll have to leave you in suspense as to how the test turned out; I haven't received my grade yet.

Oh and FYI, I drove home perfectly safely after the test. But I did burst out giggling for twenty minutes for no reason later that night . Oh well.