Jack Petro

Victoria Hamby
English 1101
September 10, 2014
Nameless Essay about ea!ing an! "riting
#or some rea!ing an! $riting are natural pleasures, others a%oi! one or the other !epen!ing on
their pre&erences or skills an! many try to a%oi! both $hene%er possible' egar!ing this in&amous !uo (
can)t say ( ha%e a strong opinion one $ay or another' ea!ing an! $riting, in an! o& themsel%es, are not
a pleasure or pain to me nor am ( particularly challenge! by one or the other' (nstea! ( ha%e a more
utilitarian %ie$ to$ar!s rea!ing an! $riting' ( see them as %ehicles an!, much like my 200* gray
Hyun!ai Sonata, they are not particularly attracti%e or particularly ugly, not high en! or &ancy but not
an ol! rust bucket hea%ing its last carbon breaths' ( ne%er &ell in lo%e $ith aesthetics o& prettily $or!e!
poetry or paragraphs an! $asn)t charme! by cute stories or characters but rather ( appreciate! them
because they !o as my car !oes' +hey take me places'
,& course as a chil! they took me to some magical chil! places or on little chil! a!%entures but (
ne%er really appreciate! them &ully until about the age o& -ish' .y &ather, a man ( may prou!ly call
ner!ly to the greatest possible e/tent o& the technically ma!e up $or!, a man $ho inspire! my o$n
un$a%ering an! un0uenchable ner!lyness, gi&te! unto me a series o& history books meant &or chil!ren
1e/act name o& series an! publisher pen!ing til ( go home an! look at them2' +hese books o& course
$ere comprise! o& easy sentences in short paragraphs naturally $ith a great many pictures to ease the
$aning o& a chil!)s attention' E%en so $hen ( a!mire the ol! books, no$ con&ine! to the shel& o& the
library instea! o& the &loor o& my chil!hoo! room, ( appreciate them &or 3ust the say reason (
appreciate! them many years ago, the $ealth o& in&ormation' +hose books transporte! me to
4le/an!er)s 5reece, +okuga$a)s Japan, 6aesar)s ome, (%an)s .usco%ite realm, an! the time o& the
continents un!er the 7han' +hrough books my chil! eyes coul! see in all their array o& color an!
precision a legion o& ome crossing the ubicon an! past the rippling o& its $ater my chil! ears coul!
hear the $or!s, as i& uttere! &rom 6aesar)s o$n lips, 84lea iacta est9' ,%er time books gre$ in
comple/ity an! pictures $ere replace! $ith eye burning, small print paragraphs' ea!ing through
"ikipe!ia articles became my playgroun! an! though ( $as intereste! in in&ormation o& all kin!s,
history, chie& abo%e all, others $as my &a%orite toy'
( happily carrie! on in this $ay &or years, !e%ouring history to satiate a hunger that gre$ in
e%ery bite' School passe! $ith me al$ays $aiting to a!sorb $hate%er crumb o& in&ormation coul! be
gotten in history class, $hich $as as insu&&icient in satis&ying me as a !rop o& $ater s0uee:e! &rom a
!ropper is at combating a great bla:e' ( passe! through that !ark era o& e%ery chil!)s li&e, mi!!le school,
an! came into high school as a star%ing chil! snacking on the ti!bits o& history the State o& North
6arolina !eci!e! a chil! shoul! kno$' "hene%er the opportunity to pro%e my lo%e an! !e%otion to
history came in a pro3ect, assigne! by an some coach;ma!e;teacher to pass the time be&ore break an!
!one by chil!ren $ith reluctance an! bore!om, ( stri%e! to create master pieces' +he essays an!
research papers ( turne! in $here huge, almost al$ays e/cee!ing the pre&erre! length o& the teachers,
po$er point presentations $ere lectures that ( $oul! ha%e most happily gi%en the teacher a !ay o&& to
present in their entirety an! ( can be most certain other ki!s rolle! their eyes at my burning enthusiasm'
( passe! through li&e eager to pass on any &unny little note $orthy e%ent, any historic anec!ote to all
$ho $oul! len! their ear to listen an! many people &oun! any mention o& it boring an! e%en irritating'
.y mother $as one o& the later an! e%en my &ather coul! not &eel my obsession as strongly as ( coul!' (
passe! years, alone in my interest in a sub3ect &e$ coul! seem to bare an! no one coul! share in the
intensity o& my enthusiasm'
"hen ( entere! my senior year o& high school ( got to ha%e &ree choice in electi%es' Naturally (
stacke! up e%ery history course my school ha! to o&&er an! my $hole &irst semester o& school &ille!
$ith nothing but history classes' ,ne o& those classes $as calle! 4merican 6i%il "ar an! it $as a class
o& pure hea%en to me' ( am naturally &anatically intereste! in all history, the 4merican 6i%il "ar
inclu!e! but it $asn)t the sub3ect in particular that please! me, it $as the teacher' Ne%er be&ore ha! (
met such an enthuse! history teacher' He stoo! in &ront o& the class e%ery !ay an! taught history $ith
an enthusiasm ( ha%e only seem matche! by a black southern <aptist preacher' He $as like me,
obsesse! in history' <e&ore ( ha! e%en met him ( ha! hear! by report that he $as a $alking
encyclope!ia an! he !i!n)t !isappoint' No class has e%er satis&ie! me like that one has' "hen it came to
the &inal pro3ect, $hich $e ha! all $inter break to !o, ( sought to &ire back $ith e0ual enthusiasm' (
$rote an o%ersi:e! essay $ith an accompanying %i!eo, a &ull =0 minutes long after ( ha! to cut out
about a 0uarter o& its content to trim it !o$n' +he content $as great, graphics $ere great, maps an! the
animations ( !i! on them $ere great an! the %i!eo $as = times the ma/imum length the %i!eo $as
suppose! to be an! ( !i!n)t care, ( presente! it' 6ontrary to knocking o&& points the teacher $as thrille!'
He sent the %i!eo to the 6i%il "ar +rust, a historic preser%ation society' ( $as aske! to $rite t$o more
articles &or them an! gla!ly ( !i!' (t $as thrilling, someone ha! taken such interest in $hat seeme! to
ha%e been a sub3ect ( $as alone in serious interest in an! ha! gone to great lengths to get others to
notice too' Ne%er be&ore ha! a teacher or anyone !one that' Naturally ( ha! al$ays $ante! to be a
history ma3or but no$ ( ha! a rene$e! &er%or in my interest' ( ha! al$ays gla!ly rea! an! absorbe!
in&ormation about history but no$ ( think, i& ( go &ar enough in e!ucation, maybe ( can $rite an!
contribute something to $hat there is to be rea!' +hat lea%es me $here ( am to!ay, a uni%ersity $riting
classroom, patiently $aiting to pass through all the general e! courses to get to serious history classes
$here my obsession can &lourish an! to go on to gra!uate school an! become one o& these !usty, ol!
Ph'!s an! $rite tomes on the sub3ect to contribute something to the stu!y o& history'