There is a reason all those online quizzes say I'm Hermione Granger....

I majored in English and theatre at Calvin. This would seem to indicate that my gifts lie in the realm of language and communication, an indication that has been substantiated in various ways over the years since Calvin. For someone who specializes in communication and presentation, though, I get into some very socially awkward situations. Ten minutes after I walk away from one of these situations, I come up with brilliant things I could have said, meaningful glances I could have given, or clever ways to have avoided the situation in the first place. When I'm in the situation, however, I am a bibbling idiot. (Or at least I feel like one...I am not always sure how others perceive me.)

One of the things I have realized that I enjoy about English and theatre is their predictability. If you are reading a book, your intuitions on characters and major plot points may quite often prove to be accurate. If you are acting from a script, you are using lines that someone else laid down for you. In books and plays, you can determine motivations by careful reading/viewing. Just by paying attention, you can know what the situation is and why. (Unless, I suppose, you are a fan of absurdist theatre. But even absurdist theatre is more comprehensible than some real people I have encountered.) I think most of my difficulties in dealing with people in general is that I come at them from this rather academic viewpoint—if we pay careful attention, we can know [fill in the blank].

Real life is not like books or plays. It can be horribly frustrating.