Highlighting

Warning: Boring information ahead:

I am studying right now, and I have been studying a lot recently. One of the things that keeps coming up in my head (distractingly, so) while I am reading is the use of highlighting as a tool for learning.

When I was in high school, a certain teacher held up a book for the class to see (mine)--using it as an example of "excessive use of highlighting". He then held up a classmate's book (don't recall who) as an example of "just the right amount of highlighting". It was defnitely noticeable, the difference between our two books. And it's not like I actually *use* the highlighted info later on. I think the reason I do it is to go over information twice--"Oh! That's important!" so I highlight it (while reading it again, I guess).

But it is EXASPERATING to me that I just can't get this stupid incident out of my head--and it still comes up while studying 14 years later.

During reading for my English classes, I wouldn't just highlight--I would write in the margins, I would underline twice. I would ruminate on and remember stuff that stood out. The stuff I am reading now is so straightforward no extraneous thoughts come to mind. There are no abstractions, no expansions to be made regarding the material I am reading in Anatomy or Language Development or Audiology. It's all fact-based. So instead of thinking about the material I am reading, I end up wondering if I am highlighting too much. And it is distracting and it is maddening

The end.