I Love Learning (Yes, I'm a Dork)

As a student, learning is my job. Learning from my readings, learning from my professors, learning from class discussions, blah blah blah.

And yes, it's interesting (though questionable how much I actually retain from week to week), but more than schoolwork, I like learning from random reading and from my friends/random people. Of course, I never devote as much time to all that as I'd like because learning from school is supposed to be privileged -- particularly so when you're paying them lots of money to go there.

But, more than anything, I love learning from kids. I always forget how much kids get really into things, and how much random information they can absorb about the things they like.

One of the kids I read with loves science-y stuff, and right now, we're reading a book about bugs. As someone who was never that into science/bio, it's really very challenging sometimes because he'll ask me things and I honestly won't know. I dig back into the reaches of my memory from grade school, fumble around a bit, and usually come up blank. But really, have I ever really thought about whether a scorpion is an arachnid or an insect? Do I know what a tachinid is? So yeah, learning a lot about bugs.

If you're curious, a tachinid is a bristly, usually grayish fly whose larvae live parasitically on caterpillars and other insects. Apparently, they're good for controlling noxious insects.