"Lessons Learned"

Hannah’s “Lessons Learned” is a very pleasurable insight to a very quiet girl! I love that I literally don’t know anything about Hannah except for her parents living about four hours away and that she has a brother that just graduated. This piece gave great insight into some of her struggles, frustrations, and accomplishments in her college life thus far. I completely related to this story because I firmly believe that life is not fully lived without an animal companion, and having a pet ups a daily happiness level or just happiness in general. I can also relate to roommate issues; I think every girl ends up having drama with the girl(s) she lives with. On that note, I would have liked to know more about the serious issue of Jillian. Hannah mentions how great Jillian was to begin with, but then only touches on Jillian’s illness and Hannah’s fears of Jillian killing herself. These are very serious issues that need more explaining, if possible. Also, how did Hannah meet Aurie? I’d like to know why she is so great, how they met, etc. She obviously is important because Hannah’s struggles of finding a good roommate and living situation are non-existent due to this girl. A little more interaction between these two would be wonderful. Also, there are some parts that are more summary than scene. I would have liked to see more about the preacher and his wife that Hannah stayed with; they are also very important to the story but are not given much space on the page. I realize this story is about Hannah finding happiness through Cadence, and, essentially, herself, but also the relationships made and broken along the way is very, very important to the story.