The Life of a Student of Literature

It all started when...Whatever, let's just get on with the story.
This girl, Anna, she's a trivial person who is interested in gaining knowledge from every single source available, danger or no danger. Ever since she was born, books were like a safe refuge for her when the world got a little bit turbulent. As you can imagine, in kindergarten, not much knowledge is dispersed throughout the fifteen page pop-up books, but in the first grade, things change quite rapidly. It was a rainy October afternoon in a small private school in Moscow, where in one classroom, a teacher was handing out Antoine de Saint-Exupery's "Little Prince" out to her students. From that point on, the seed of reading was planted in Anna's mind, and she was thirsty to find out more about what secrets books held inside them.       
  The year was 2004, and grade four had slowly, but surely commenced its progress. The pop-out books and alphabet handouts were long gone, replaced by novels and book reports. It was almost as if getting handed out a novel instead of a short story was a rite of passage for a young reader. To Anna, though, these novels did not present an impossible challenge, but instead, they were seen as an opportunity to learn more about the world, and her own imagination's power. One day, the teacher of Anna's grade four class announced to her students that they were going to have a "book of choice" day every single week, when the children could pick the material they wished to read for English class. Excited, after school was dismissed, Anna begged her mom to take her to the library to pick out a book to read. When she arrived at the children's section, she was transfixed by a magnificent book cover, that of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". She ran over to the shelf, and wrapped the book in her thin arms, as if she was protecting it. At first, her mom questioned the difficulty of that book, but finally gave in when Anna started arguing furiously, disturbing a small study group of high school students. It was this particular visit to the library which set off Anna's journey as a student of literature.

Quite a few years had past, and before we knew it, Anna was already in high school, enduring the lengthy adaptation process among new friends and classmates. The first few weeks of school were a turbulent blur, and getting lost in the numerous halls became a routine thing. Despite the many different turns the days took, a kind of serene stability was present at Anna's English lessons, almost like a refuge from the noisy world. Since Anna had enlisted in the gifted/enriched program, it was obvious that the material they were going to revise was advanced for the grade nine level. And so, the roller coaster of literature began. From documentaries, fiction, and biographies to plays and poetry. Some time had passed, and at the midpoint of the semester came the turning point of Anna's literary life. She felt it happen, the moment the Macbeth book was gently placed on her desk, beckoning her nimble hands to flip through the pages.