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Bedtime Stories
When I was in my toddler days and young elementary school, my parents would often read to me as I fell asleep. It is one of the most soothing feelings as a young kid to fall asleep to your parent’s voice in the middle of the good story. We would read stories like Go, Dog. Go!, everything by Dr. Seuss, and lots of Disney stories. That story time at night was more about uninterrupted time with my parents where I felt safe, loved, and comforted during those short minutes of the story. -
Series on Series
In my elementary school days, I loved series books, above all was Junie B. Jones. The reason I most loved series books is because the adventure was never over. While other books were done when I finished the last page, I practically never ran out of stories with Junie B. Jones. I got to get to know her character more, see where life took her, and learn more creative stories. To this day, I still love series books. I love learning more about characters and continuing an adventure by their side. -
Race Reading
In these elementary school days, reading became more of a competition than a leisurely adventure. In school, we got rewards for the amount of books we finished and how well we scored on tests about the books. I always wanted to be in the top group of readers in my class. The problem is, I was (and still am) a slow reader. I quickly began equating my slow reading with being a “bad reader. The competition of speed dampened my love of reading as I felt ill-equipped compared to my classmates. -
Becoming a Religious Reader.
In middle school, I started to really read the Bible on my own. Reading the Bible by me was an act that helped deepen my faith and grow my relationship with the Lord. My understanding of the Bible was very limited, but it was the first time that I was really digging into faith on my own. Reading became a source of communication and learning with the Lord for me and still is. -
Harry Potter.
My love of Harry Potter books began in high school. The biggest reason for getting so into the books was for the community. My two best friends share the same passion for Harry Potter as me. We would constantly talk about the books and re-watch the movies. Our friendship was practically based on our love of God and our love of Harry Potter. There is something cool about escaping to an alternative world with friends that we shared in our imaginations. -
College- Now I really do read my textbooks.
College brought me intensive academic reading. I have found a lot of my learning in college comes from the texts I read. While sometimes it is hard to find the motivation to read my assigned readings, I always benefit from it when I thoroughly read. I am progressively learning how to read college texts with a critical mindset. I love challenging the material I read and developing my own opinions. Reading is a powerful skill that gives me autonomy over my learning in college.
