Writing Assignment One
The skill of reading is not something one is born with or something one could live without. Reading is a concept that is developed overtime; and whether you enjoy it or dislike it, reading is imperative for success. I am sure that there are only few who would try to argue that reading is not important. I believe that reading is the foundation of anything and everything.
Right now you could be thinking one of two things. First you could be thinking I am obsessed with reading; or here is a girl who is defending the right to be able to read. Although really I am doing neither. In actuality, I do not enjoy reading, and most certainly would fall in the “non reader” category of society. You may ask yourself how does someone become a reader or a non reader? I myself was asked that very same question. If you asked me this question a month or two ago I would say, “because I just don’t like to read, never have…” But, I found that me not liking to read goes way deeper than that.
Looking back on my past experiences with reading, I do have a negative outlook on it; though, I feel that these experiences have helped shape me into the completive person I am today.
Ever since I was little girl, my sister, Tulsa, was not only my best friend, but also who I looked up to the most. I believe our closeness in age contributed to our strong relationship. Tulsa and I are only a year and a half apart in age. Although we do have our differences, one thing we both enjoyed was when our mom read to us every night. My mother made sure reading was a huge part of our lives as children and young adults. Though we were not the kids that watched television or played video games, we never once thought that we were missing out on the fun. We loved to do other things like play tag outside, make mud castles and our favorite part of the day was when mom would read to us before we went to bed. I can still hear in my head my mom saying “ Girls, go put on pajamas and pick out a bed time story; its getting late.” We would both run to the book shelf and argue about what book we wanted my mother to read to us. The final decision was always made by Tulsa, and normally she chose Dr. Seuss or The Bernstein Bears. My mom would read to us until we both fell asleep.
When my sister started elementary school, I begged my mom to let me go with her. She quickly began to read and to write at a very young age, where as I struggled. Bed time stories were not the same when my sister started reading to me instead of my mom. I wanted to be able to read just as well as her, and it affected me greatly not being able to do so. Reading was something that made me happy and something that I looked forward to daily. I quickly felt I had to learn how to read just as well as Tulsa, or my mom would look at me as a failure. It was in my eyes a never ending competition. I pushed myself to learn how to read not because I wanted too, but because I felt like I had to. Even today I still feel like I compete with my sister with reading. She is absolutely infatuated with reading and always has a book in her hand; I senvy her for that. Even at my graduation, I looked up in the seats and saw her biting her nails and diligently reading. Even though I do still feel like I compete with my sister, I can say I am very appreciative that I have a sister who’s passion is reading. I appreciate it greatly because I know that I will never have what she has with books.
As I got older, wanting to become a better reader was very important to me. I watched my friends enjoy reading through middle school and into high school. I asked myself why can I not just like to read? As I look back, I notice that once again I wanted to read not because I wanted to do it for myself, but because my friends were doing it. It was not just a competition between sister and sister anymore it was also with my fellow classmates. In eleventh grade I started reading slightly more than before. However, reading was still felt very forced upon to me. I read my first book in the eleventh grade that actually made me cry and I could not put it down. The book was My Sisters Keeper, by Jodi Piocult. I thought that maybe I found the one book that could change my feelings on reading. However, that was not so much the case. My English teacher in eleventh grade was very opinionated; it was “her way or the high way.” I remember the day we were having a class discussion on the book, The Scarlet Letter. This was not one of my favorite books. I decided to state my opinion on the book (which was that I felt it was boring and I just could not connect to it), and when I did, I felt attacked. My teacher did not let me even finish what I was saying before she commented on what I said two seconds before.
After that incident, I felt almost afraid to discuss openly on the books we read. I started slacking and not even reading what was assigned for the night. Why read, when I was truly afraid to discuss the book if I did not have such a positive outlook on it? My senior year of high school I do not recall picking up one book that wasn’t assigned for me to read. My excuse was that I did not have time to read, but yet I found myself talking on the computer, checking out profiles on facebook, or watching television. Thus, not having time was not a legitimate excuse. I feel that my teacher did put a negative image in my mind with regards to reading and also disusing openly on books.
As I look back today, I feel that these two events in my life shaped me who I am today as a reader. Sometimes I think to myself, “will I ever be a reader?” I feel that I could still change my reading habits although it would be extremely difficult. I think that anyone who is no a reader could in fact learn to be a reader. Reading is something that you need to enjoy as well as practice to develop the skill. Since I never liked to read, it was very challenging for me to get “hooked on books.” I find myself today at college having to work extra hard to because I do struggle with reading. When asked by my professors to read pages for homework, I dread it. I always will put off my reading assignments until the last minute. There is not one day that goes by that I don’t encounter reading and wish that I was a better at it.
I have developed a very competitive nature for sports, especially horseback riding. I ponder if maybe I decided to be involved in sports and other activities because I wanted to be better at something then my sister or my friends. This may sound irrelevant, but I think that I needed that something that made me smile and made me happy. I constantly saw my sister as well as my friends happy when they read but I never felt that way. My sister Tulsa never once played a sport so for me that was something I could beat her in. Though reading and horseback riding are very different activities, for my sister and I they are a lot alike. If I’m having a bad day I go to the farm to ride and I feel something that cannot be felt unless I’m on the back of my horse. For my sister, she gets the same kind of feeling when she opens up a new book and doesn’t put it down until she’s finished. Though experiences in my life may have attributed to me not liking to read, they also could have brought me close to the one thing I love most, competing my horse.
