Lists

10 Things You’ll Understand if You’re a Book Lover and a Student

Amanda Kay Oaks

Staff Writer

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Amanda Kay Oaks has a BFA in Creative Writing and Literature from The University of Evansville and is a current creative nonfiction MFA student at Chatham University. An AmeriCorps alum, online tutor, and literary journal editor, Amanda considers herself a professional wearer of many hats and isn't sure what she'll do if she ever actually has only one job at a time. When she isn't working, reading, writing, or pretending to be a practiced yogi, Amanda can most likely be found snuggled up on the couch with her cat, Artemis, and a plate of cookies. She tweets T.S. Eliot quotes a little too often and tries to keep up with her personal book blog, I Write Things. Twitter: @I_Write_Things

This fall, I started my first year of an MFA program after two years in “the real world.” By now, the back to school shine has started to wear off and we’re all knees deep in the student life.

For me, being back in the realm of assigned reading, writing, and homework has led me to reminiscence about my days as an undergraduate. While being a student is a ton of work for everyone, being a bookish student seems to come with its own unique set of experiences. Here’s a list to celebrate those bookish student problems.

1. Even when your eyes hurt from reading assigned books for so long, you’ve got to get in at least one chapter of your fun reading before bed.

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2. You actually get really excited when your textbooks show up in the mail.

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3. The thought of renting your books and not getting to keep them makes you cringe, even though you know you’d save money that way.

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4. You fundamentally don’t understand it when people never do the reading for class. (Especially if you’re an English major!)

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5. You devotedly track your assigned reading in Goodreads (or your favorite book tracking method). Hey, it counts!

6. Audiobooks are your new best friend because they let you get more book time in between all the studying.

7. You have a strong opinion about how your books should be treated and don’t like it when you see other students not falling in line.

8. You actually like being in the library to do homework. Who doesn’t love being surrounded by books?

9. The student budget is in constant conflict with your need to buy books and bookish goodies. Constant.

10. Even though your extreme book love might make some people think you’re weird, you wouldn’t trade it for anything.

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