I recently reread the foreword to In Fact, an anthology of essays published in the magazine “Creative Nonfiction.” Annie Dillard, a famous essayist, structured her foreword as notes to a young writer. She wrote common tips (“Read.”), funny tips (“Don’t use another word for said or walk other than said or walk. I know your sixth-grade teacher told you otherwise. Mine told me otherwise, too. I’m sure there’s a sixth-grade teacher out there right now telling students otherwise.”), and a tip that stood out to me: “You’ll have time to read after college.”

People snatch up this type of tip. We love anything that justifies a negative activity. My mother has an article hanging on the side of our fridge that explains how people who are habitually late tend to be smarter. You’re late again for work? Well that has to be OK because you must be smarter than these fools getting here on time. You’ve never read a book for pleasure in college? Well that has to be OK because Pulitzer-Prize winner Annie Dillard told us we’d have time to read after college.

I’m sure we will have time to read after college. I’m also sure we’ll have time to read during college, just like we had time to read before college. If you’ve ever gotten your hands on a captivating book (and I would love to recommend some to you if you say you haven’t), time sneaks up on you as easily as the pages turn. I once waited three weeks for a book on hold from the Penn State library. I got the book, and it sat quite nicely on my bookshelf. Then, a couple days later, I got an email that it would be recalled in five days. I thought I had no time to read it, but I made time. It was a great book, and I finished it with two hours to spare before the deadline. Last year, as the semester winded down, I stumbled upon Evan Thomas’s First: Sandra Day O’Connor. For how much practice I have, I’m a surprising slow reader. The book enthralled me. I finished the 491 pages in five days. Great books don’t just demand time. They create it.

You may not read for pleasure in college. I’m not saying you have to. I often don’t feel like I have time to read for pleasure in college (although this perpetuates the assumption that the books I read for class, since I’m an English major, automatically disqualify them as pleasure reading. This is a bad assumption. I’ve been reading Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and it’s giving me much pleasure). But I do have time to read for pleasure. When I’m waiting for a class to start, I could read. When I’m walking in between classes, I could read. When I’m queuing for food, I could read. Reading is an opportunity cost, and by reading I lose the ability to listen to music, or talk with friends, or answer emails. However, I know I will do all these things anyway because I prioritize them. I should give reading the same priority, and definitely a priority above mere connection (such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat).

The title of this blog reflects my discontent with the fact that we do receive books in HONORS 401 anymore. I’ll admit that it’s a logical decision. Only a handful of people read the book (even that’s being generous), and I’m not sure half the class ever opened it. It may seem odd for me to be annoyed with this decision. I got a staggering 22 pages into Teddy before placing the book down. I haven’t picked it back up. I’ve gotten further in reading the back of Leadership in Turbulent Times than I have its first page. But these are fascinating books, and I do plan to read them. Having them staring back at me, Teddy with his tall hat and judgmental monocle, reminds me to read them. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not until graduation. But Annie promised I’d have time to read after college, and I plan to hold her to that promise. And because of the PLA’s generosity, I know what I’m going to read. I still plan to be a leader after I graduate college and the PLA. With the books from 401, I’ll still be able to learn PLA’s lessons long after I’ve left. But just those two books from that one class, because there are no more books in PLA.