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Kindergarten
In Kindergarten, I was an advanced reader and I loved being told that I was doing so well by my teacher and family. This made me want to read just to be praised by adults. At this point, I didn't really care to read for fun. We read those books that were by level and had very simple sentences. -
Second Grade
My mom loved to read, so she would read to and with me starting in second grade. She would let me pick the books I wanted us to read, so that helped me learn to enjoy books as entertainment. The most memorable book we read was "Where The Red Fern Grows". -
Fourth Grade
In fourth grade, my school began implementing a summer reading requirement. These books were all historical fiction and didn't interest me. My mom had to force me to read them since it was required. I remember the series perfectly. It was the "My America" series of various children's diaries. One of these I read was "Joshua's Diary". This is when I began hating anything historically related, including films and classes. -
Fifth Grade
In fifth grade, we had to read novels and take quizzes on them as a requirement for English. I chose to read the "Twilight" seeries for this requirement. What I remember most clearly about this time was praised by my teacher because those books were meant for eighth graders and I was reading it easily. -
Seventh Grade
In seventh grade, I remember being in an English class that was below my reading level. It was a new school and they didn't have my records from my old school, so they put me in the regular English class when I should've been in advanced. When my teacher noticed that I was ahead of my peers, he had me tested for the advanced class. I had learned to love praise from teachers and I didn't want to leave this teacher and his praise, so I purposely chose wrong answers to stay in his class. -
Eight Grade
Half way through eighth grade, I had moved schools again and also moved to Las Vegas. The main comfort I had in this new school and after this big life change was being praised by my new teachers. I took my "Twilight" books to school and read quietly in class when I was done with my work and during lunch before I made friends. These books gave me comfort. This gave me a reputation of being the "good kid" in my classes and I did receive a lot of praise from my teachers. -
Ninth Grade
Halfway through ninth grade, I began having seizures and I was diagnosed with Epilepsy. The seizures and medication made it so hard for me to focus and comprehend what I read. I began becoming frustrated anytime I was required to read for a class. I started hating reading in general due to this frustration. -
Tenth Grade
Halfway through tenth grade, I began the homebound program with CCSD for school since I was having multiple seizures that sent me home from school early. It was safer for me to stay home and better for my education. During this time, I was home alone a lot and got bored of TV quickly. I looked to books I read in the past for comfort and entertainment during this rough time. I re-read the "Twilight" and started reading similar genres. I then discovered my love for young adult romance novels. -
Eleventh Grade
In eleventh grade, I started going to a hybrid charter school. I would work online and go on campus once a week. My mom started taking me to the library once a week to pick up books so I wouldn't watch so much TV and get bored at home. I started reading books about teens with "issues". I felt I could relate to them since I was dealing with depression at the time. MY favorite author of these books is Ellen Hopkins and I started reading her books after I discovered "Perfect". -
First Year Of College
In my first year of college, I learned that college was a lot of reading. I never studyied, so reading textbooks was a first for me. I became very frustrated very quickly since I was still on medications that make comprehension and focusing hard for me. I eventually learned to deal with it after taking the college prep course. That course helped me learn to study and find info in textbooks easily. I was still wary of textbooks, but I started learning to read them and become less frustrated. -
Now
As of now, I have a love/hate relationship with reading. I still hate historical texts and reading assignments. I believe this is due to being forced to read texts I didn't like and feeling threatened by those assignments during my school years. I still love YA novels. I still get frustrated easily when I can't comprehend texts and give up quickly. I still love being praised by my professors for any assignments and I believe this is due to being praised for the wrong reasons as a child.
