Why is it so difficult to know what to put here?
I am the youngest of four children, raised in the old-fashioned Irish-American way. I butted heads early on with the good sisters at my Catholic elementary school, and ended up leaving high school for college with no diploma. I wear my high-school dropout badge rebelliously and proudly.
I have far too many advanced degrees, but they have been helpful in my non-fiction and my historical fiction. I started writing fiction when I was four years old; non-fiction came much later, when I was in graduate school. Some of my non-fiction is published, lovely dry academic prose. Very little of my fiction has ever seen the light of day, but that is going to change.
Hi Elizabeth,
I found you! How fun. I’m so glad to hear a bit more about you and, as a good writer, you leave me wanting to know more. What are your degrees in? However did you get into college without a HS diploma (I LOVE that you say you “wear the HS dropout badge proudly”). So many questions, so little time. Loved your Cinderella blog, too, btw. May we all learn to embrace our inner Cinderella.
By: Janet Givens on December 3, 2012
at 10:55 am
Hi Janet! Yes, you found me! As for my degrees, I did a double major, English and French, for the B.A.; Comparative Literature for the M.A., a Certificate in Medieval Studies (an amalgam of M.A. and Ph.D. requirements) and Comparative Literature with minors in English and French for the Ph.D. (for which I am writing the dissertation), as well as an M.L.S. in Library Science.
As for getting into college, I finished my junior year with 4 years of English through advanced placement, and 4 years of French by taking French 3 one summer with my teacher and then French 4 my junior year. My Catholic high school required one more semester of Religion (which was Marriage), nothing else. (My first marriage ended in divorce, so maybe I should have taken it!) I talked to my college Registrar, who said I had all the state requirements for a high school diploma, so there was no bar to admitting me. The other applicants in my position all got their high school diplomas at the end of their freshman year in college, but my principal refused to give me the diploma.
It did make it difficult when I had to explain why I was never graduated from high school to the Library of Congress when I applied for a position there, but I am very proud to be a high school dropout.
I’m glad you enjoyed the Cinderella blog–I agree, we should all take our Cinderellas to the mall for some stylish clothes!
By: Elizabeth Anne Mitchell on December 3, 2012
at 12:53 pm
[...] Elizabeth Anne Mitchell [...]
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at 10:01 pm
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By: shanjeniah on January 23, 2013
at 10:24 pm