Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
I may be a woman, and I’m interested in discrimination against women, but I’m not the kind of person to go out and protest or talk about how books can be harmful. I panic over just giving a speech about regular, non-confrontational subjects. I can’t imagine giving a full talk on something like discrimination against women in literature.
“What are some of the books that do this?” I ask, but I immediately snap my mouth closed. “You know what? I don’t want to know. I really think it’d be best if I hang out outside.”
I start to walk away but stop when John gently grabs my arm. “I think you’ll enjoy the conference, Mari.”
“I don’t belong here,” I admit aloud. “I’m not like you guys. I don’t sit around talking about how old white men wrote badly about women. Why can’t we focus on the good stuff?”
Mark laughs lightly. “I thought you wanted to work for a literary journal?” he questions.
I nod. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“You won’t be able to hide from the hard stuff in that kind of atmosphere.”
“I know it’s academic too, but this is just…not my kind of literature.”
“But at a literary journal or magazine, you don’t get to pick and choose either. You have to write what you’re assigned, or you have to write hard-hitting, interesting stuff.”
“I know,” I groan. “And it’s always been my dream to work at a journal or magazine. But now…I don’t know. I don’t see myself working at a desk for the rest of my life.”
“There is some traveling with that kind of job.”
“Not enough,” I argue. “Most of the writing is done in an office, you know. Am I cut out for that?”
“You’d get to read all day; you love doing that.”
“I do. It’s not the book part that scares me. I’m worried…I don’t know. I guess I don’t want to lose my love for the outdoors by locking myself behind a desk for the rest of my life.”
John strokes my cheek. “Mari, dear. You’ll never lose your love for the outdoors. It’s a part of who you are. Whatever you do, you’ll always feel the call of the wild.”
I hug him quickly. Somehow, John knew exactly what I needed to hear in that moment.
“Thank you,” I reply.
“Anytime. Now, are you ready to head in to the conference?”
I nod, though I’m still unsure. My time in the woods yesterday has made me reconsider everything about the life I’d thought I wanted to lead. It’s something I need to think about more.
For now, though, I’m appeased simply knowing John thinks I’ll keep my love of adventure and the outdoors, even if I do wind up at a magazine.
Once we enter the conference, it’s like we’re in a whole new world. The small gaggle of people outside the entrance multiples a hundredfold. There is hardly enough room to walk.
“Wow,” I say. “I wasn’t expecting it to be this full.”
“People travel from all over the world for conferences, especially with such unique and important topics. It’s even crazier in New York, since that’s a hub city. This is tame compared to some of the conferences I’ve been to.”
That’s crazy to me. I had no idea there was this whole academic world out there. I guess a part of me assumed there was, but you don’t realize how huge academia is until you see it all in one place.
We approach the registration desk and get checked in. We’re given badges that we need to wear for the entirety of the conference. Mine has a moose on it, which makes me happy. It looks like the event coordinators are sticking with the Alaskan theme here.
John takes a look at a schedule. “I really want to see the talk on women in war narratives. It starts in about ten minutes. Do you want to attend it with me?”
I nod because I don’t know where else I would go. I grab schedules for the rest of the conference. Maybe I’ll find something I’m interested in for later today, or the next couple of days.
“I’d actually like to go listen to the discussion on sex work in literature. I’ll catch up with you guys for lunch, ok?”
John and I agree. Mark goes in the opposite direction for his talk, while John and I head for a room to the left.
We find the lecture room and take seats near the back. It’s already almost full, and it’s one of the first talks of the entire conference!
“You know,” John remarks, “I told you about my time in Nepal. I had to sow my wild oats before I was happy settling down in academia. I still get antsy to travel a lot, like I said. Maybe that would be a good idea for you to do, too. You could take some time off and visit a new place or two. Go on an adventure before you start a desk job.”