<p>I have to write a letter to my English teacher explaining my academic character, ....It's kinda long but I wasn't sure what to say about my academic character. This is my first assignment of the year so I want it to be good. Can you tell me if my essay is immature, bad, what to fix? I don't mind criticism. Thanks :)</p>
<pre><code>My desk is very small, very plain, and very brown, but hes not someone to underestimate. He has hated me since the day I took him away from his home at Jordans Furniture where he was oohed and ahhed at by customers, and sentenced him to my dungeon of a room. Every time I sit down and try to study like I should be doing, he attacks me. He's even got several different ways of attacking. The subtlest is Splinter Strike where my desk waits until Im turning the last page of my homework to stick a splinter into my thumb. This is very frustrating because, taking notes from my history reading is already difficult enough since I can barely fit my notebook and my textbook on my too small desk. Then theres Bumpy Surface Attack. All night he thinks up ways to make himself as rough as he can so that when I try to write on top of him my hand slips over his surface and makes my writing illegible. Or sometimes, when he's in a particularly mischievous mood, he'll wobble. Not enough for anyone else to notice, but just enough so that I can't concentrate on my work. He's very crafty.
Because of these extraordinary conditions, I have ventured away from the habits of the conventional type of student. Taking notes during assigned readings? Writing neatly? Sitting up straight? Eh. Thats really not for me. Instead Ive found shelter in my bed, which, in addition to being very well furnished, is enormous. I now read in there and do most of my writing too. In fact, I do all my prewriting by just thinking while lying down in bed, with my eyes closed. An unfortunate side affect is I often find myself falling asleep, but its a small sacrifice considering I no longer have to put up with my desk. And then again, all this extra sleeping could be a good thing. Lao Tse endorses diminishing and again diminishing ones activities until he or she does nothing on purpose. Sleeping is the most inactive a person can get; although, my mother would dismiss Lao Tses principles as excuses made up by a lazy man.
I like to think education isn't simply something I can find in a textbook. Its not something so rigid that every season has an appropriate lesson as Confucius says, because every individual has his own pace and his own seasons. Its something people gain by living, by breathing, something that just comes with time.
What are my goals as a student? Well, I would like to be well educated, but my definition of education keeps changing. When I was younger it was synonymous with school, but now its much more open-ended. To me, friends, friends brothers, and even friends brothers babysitters cousins, have as much to teach as school teachers do. There have been many pushes and pulls in my life, and I rarely fight them. I guess I like to take the easy way out. I shun hard, rigid desks, and flee to warm, comforting beds, thinking one is no worse than the other. I guess thats why I dont really know where Im headed.
Over summer vacation, my parents bought me a new desk, so I dont know, maybe Ill start using it. Maybe things will be different this year.
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