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Learning to Read
I'm not 100% sure when I started to learn to read, but I'm assuming I was around 4-5? I believe my first word was mom, then dad, and once I learned to talk I didn't stop. I had an easel I'd put all my favorite words on, really simple like "pig" and "dog". -
Candy Land Book
Every night before bed, my mom would make up a story to tell me, usually about Candy Land, because it was my favorite game. At a certain point, she started writing them down on colorful paper, and together we'd create entire short stories. -
Cupcake Fiasco
I have a really oddly specific memory of being in kindergarten and not being able to spell the word "cupcake". My teacher would not help me, and told me to just sound it out, and I must've sat distraught on that floor for half an hour trying to figure it out, but I didn't give up. -
New Student
When I was in second grade, a new student named Sulaf joined our class, and she only spoke Arabic. My teacher had me and a couple other people read books to her to help her learn English, and I remember reading her a Dr Suess book, which was a one time thing, because all the rhyming made it a bit confusing. -
Percy Jackson
When I was in third grade, I discovered the Percy Jackson series, and I spent all of 3rd-4th grade reading the books. I think I got about halfway through book 4 before starting middle school, when I unfortunately took a break from reading them and never took it back up. -
Drama
When I was in middle school, I got more into graphic novels, books like The Baby-sitter's club, etc. I discovered Raina Telgemeir, and I bought/read all of her books. I specifically remember her book "Drama", which had some of the first queer characters I'd ever been exposed to. It was a really important moment for me because I'd reread those parts of the book over and over, feeling a special connection to them but not understanding why yet. -
Music
I wasn't really sure what year to put, because music has always been a big part of my life, but more recently I've started appreciating lyrics more. I like reading song lyrics and figuring out what they mean, what sort of symbolism is used, etc. I find it helps me better relate to the song. -
Beautiful Boy
This is the most recent addition, which came from your class! :) I chose to read Beautiful Boy because I've dealt with a very close family member struggling with addiction. I got really emotional reading the book, because I was able to relate to so much of it. I feel like I don't read as much as I should anymore, and this book got me back into it.