According to my parents first, and then pretty much everyone else who met me after they did, I have something to say, and I'm not too terrible at finding creative ways to say it. So, from my first steps into literacy, around age 4 to 5 until now, I have made efforts to be understood, which usually ended up in written form.That's about 35 years of poetry, diary entries, songs, essays, short stories, and later on instructions, emails, blog/Facebook posts, and the occasional personal opinion on an article here and there.
In high school I was copy, and then managing editor of our high school's literary magazine. In every job I've ever had, I became the proofreader. The drafter. The wordsmith. My current workplace is no different. I love to provide this help, because I know it is tedious to others and taking it off their shoulders makes me feel I have something important to contribute.
For a large part of my adult life I spent a great deal of time playing an unasked-for role of a chronically ill patient, as well as the parent of one. I learned incredible amounts of information about modern medicine. Some of this information applied to my situation, and some didn't have a thing to do with what was going on with me and yet, I would read and read, captivated by an overwhelming curiosity of how stuff works inside a living creature. I found in this foray that my love for the written word was not relegated to the arts. I have a knack for understanding the Latin roots that make up most of medical terminology. I can pronounce and spell complicated medication names. Having this outlet for my stress and worry was an excellent way to not go crazy while lying around trying to get well or tending to/advocating for my special-needs kiddo.
I've taken a rudimentary vocabulary quiz' provided by Dictionary.com that is supposed to tell about how extensive your vocabulary might be based on your performance in the quiz. I was near 33 thousand words, and in the 70th percentile of native English speakers who took the test. Adults in my age-group range from 20,000 to 35,000. I am quite happy with that result, but am always eager to learn more! If you haven't tried it before, you should check out Dictionary.com's word of the day.
I'd really like the chance to take an IQ assessment. Not the type where you answer five questions and give someone your email address to see the results. A real, professionally administered battery of questions designed to assess just where I fall on the bell curve. Yes, I enjoy taking tests. Yes, I know this makes me a weird nerd. No, I don't care.
Until I have the chance to do that, I'll simply continue reading, continue writing, and continue telling whomever might be inclined to take a look, that I am here, and I quite like the idea of company.
