Choosing "To Be"

“To be or not to be, that is the question…”, is the beginning of an epic monologue from Shakespeare’s Hamlet of which the first twenty lines I was forced to memorize my senior year of high school. Why? Wrong question. The better question is: Why after nearly 2 years have I continued to hold prisoner that speech within my memory? Simple answer: appearance. I am not a naturally intelligent person, I consider myself average at most things. However, for one odd reason or another, I attract and am attracted to people of high intellect. For years I suffered as my friends gossiped about the gorgeous teacher in their Honors art history course, or of the like-minded crowd that appeared in all their classes; where I was stuck amongst the average crowd during the day. Oh how I yearned to be in those classes with them, with that elite group of people who have the privilege of saying, “I am an Honor Student at the Academy”. That is why I memorized the 19 lines after “To be or not to be…”, the 19 lines that really add no significance to the beauty or intrigue of that first line.