I may have taken this metaphor too far ...

... but you'll get the idea.

In April, I'll graduate from BYU-Idaho with a bachelor's in communication and clusters (for you non-BYU-Iers out there, a "cluster" is half of a minor. Two clusters equals one minor) in English and Political Science.

I have love-hate relationships with both of these fields. And today while I was trying to swallow 34 pages of "Chapter 4 — Political Attitudes and Participation: Venting and Voting," I decided political science is a lot like peanut butter.

I like peanut butter. I especially like it when it's in a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup — like political science all candied up and wrapped in something delicious, like storytelling. If I can weave something I learned in a political science class through a terrific story, I'm so glad I'm studying it.

I also like peanut butter on PB&Js. Storytelling here is like one piece of bread, journalistic objectivity the other, and good design is the jelly. The peanut butter of political science adds credibility and interest to a good news package. It's a happy little conglomerate of four wonderful fields.

But who can stand to sit and eat jars and jars of peanut butter for hours at a time? Who shoves giant spoonfuls of peanut butter into her mouth without even a drop of anything to wash it down?

Gross, I tell you. Absolutely disgusting.