Border Collie Christmas Review

Border Collie Christmas by Nancy Warren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Border Collie Christmas is a novella about a puppy that manages to bring two broken people together and help them heal. This is not the typical genre that I read. I prefer the more action packed, fantasy type of book. That being said, I enjoyed this story very much for what it is. A heart-warming, easy read. The plot wasn’t too deep, or complex(which is good for a short story), but the characters were well developed with interesting back stories. At first, I was a little bothered that Erin's back story was left a bit of a mystery, but as the story unfolded and she finally told her story, it fit well into the rest of the plot. The quality of the writing is very good, and I found it easy to follow. At some points I felt the story was a teensy bit slow, but then again, I am used to full on adventure/action packed stories. It did not take away any from the quality of the writing, and the story. It is a very cozy, tug at your heartstrings story, perfect for a light Christmas read. I liked the connection between the main characters, though I do wish some of the more steamy moments were described instead of brushed over. But that certainly wasn’t promised in the genre or description of the book, so I won’t be holding that against it. The story made me feel a range of emotions, which is what I like most about reading a book, and is the mark of good story telling. The ending brought a happy little smile to my face. I don’t want to give away the name of the puppy, but it rounded the story out perfectly. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five was because I reserve the five stars for those books that I can't live without reading.

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The Truth About Higher Education

I'm currently sitting in the most boring class ever.  The teacher is droning on at the front of the class, completely oblivious to the fact that at least half the class is paying absolutely no attention to what he is saying.  Only watching the clock as the minutes tick slowly by.  40 more minutes??  *Sigh*

I wonder for a moment if he actually realizes we are not listening to him.  We make it fairly obvious, by the constant eye contact with our laptops.  We never answer when he asks the class a question, only look momentarily up from our much more interesting screen to shrug and look away.  We clearly do not know the answer.  Not because it was a hard question, but because no one is paying attention.

It's a really sad thing that I am stuck in this class, freezing my butt off, trying to occupy myself and stave off the utter boredom.  I will pass the class of course, probably with a B.  If I tried even a little bit I could get an A.  But let's be completely honest.  I would rather take a B and never have to come to this class, than try to endure this boredom for another day.

Most of my classes are such.  Which begs the question, am I really learning anything?  Why the hell am I even here?  I could be doing something so much more productive with my time.  It's disturbing to me, because I know I am not the only one.  So many of us will receive 'good degrees' with very little real learning.  Of everything that I have had to study in my career as a college student, I have only really learned about 10% of it.  And of that 10%, only about 1% stuck. 

So there you go.  That is the ugly truth about higher education.  Most of the classes are frivolous wastes of time, spent in subjects that have absolutely no connection to the degree that I am going for.  And in turn, the degree I will receive will have very little to do with the actual job I will do when I finally graduate. 

And in case you are wondering, I am an International Trade and Finance major, sitting in an Organic Chemistry class, and preparing for a career in publishing.  Yep, that's the truth about higher education.  WTF.
I hope my dad is happy about the over $100,000 he has spent on this wonderful education of mine.