If you know me you know that reading has always been a passion of mine. Sometimes I can devour a book in a day, even hours if it's that good. But it hasn't always been this way. In fact it got off to a very bad start.
Most kids learn to read in kindergarten right? I was no exception. What is different from me and other kids in this school is that I was in Florida when I learned to read. People may not see any problem with that, but in fact there was. The school I was at was predominately Hispanic. Now there’s nothing wrong with that. The problem was that most kids spoke very poor English or in one kid’s case none at all. Instead of focusing on the basics like reading and writing we focused more on learning each other’s language. We had Spanish class instead of nap time and the teachers would focus on helping the Hispanic kids understand English instead of focusing on reading with the kids who knew English. They did teach us to read. And I in fact learned to read. It wasn’t until I moved back to Arkansas in the middle of my kindergarten year that we realized that I was actually quite behind in the reading game.
Fortunately I ended up in a wonderful school system when we moved back. The teachers were fantastic and were immediately catching me up with reading. But whereas the other kids they were teaching were on level 3 or 4 of reading, they basically had to start back at step one with me. I quickly caught on, but I was still behind everyone else. This started something that is going to follow me for the rest of my life. I was now driven to be better. I didn’t like being behind everyone, I didn’t like feeling stupid. So I worked hard to read more. After I got the hang of it reading was second nature to me, I started reading quickly and more than the other kids. It was like the bad start I got in Florida didn’t even matter anymore.
This drive continued. I was reading more and more, and my teachers noticed. Now it wasn’t just my reading skills that got me tested for Gifted and Talented, but they were a contributing factor. I was accepted into the GT program at my school and soon began reading books three or four grade levels higher than the actual grade I was in.
When I moved yet again in the middle of second grade here to Marion, they hadn’t started the GT program yet. So I was placed in normal classes. It was strange but it didn’t stop me from reading and I certainly didn’t slow down to match them. I remember getting to go to the coveted fifth and sixth grade level book shelf where you could only go with permission. I was, for a time, the only one. It wasn’t because everyone else was stupid, it’s because I had already been taught to read at that level and had been reading them for a while. This soon ended me up with being told I should be reading no lower than fifth grade level and as high as twelfth grade level in 4th grade.
I was always driven to read, read the most, read the biggest book. It’s probably related to that drive I got to have to catch up and be better than others so I didn’t feel stupid. I was soon in the list of the highest Accelerated Reader point earners. I was reading more books than ever before.
Now this soon created a problem. I had read so many books, the most common ones that I started to not find anything interesting. I was stuck just reading enough books to get the required amount of points and not reading anything else. Instead of picking up good substantial, my appropriate level, books I was picking up little books that were easy to read and I could read quickly.
Then I found myself no longer under the constraints of Accelerated Reading. I could read whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted. But with this growing up, I also got busier. I stopped reading on a regular basis. That’s the point I’m at in my life now. I don’t have a book I’m currently reading. But don’t get me wrong, I still have a passion for reading. When I get a book that I love I can read for hours and hours. It gets worse if it’s part of series and I can’t sleep until I finish the entire series.
My main weakness is post apocalyptic sci-fi books such as The Hunger Games, a book I read in a night. I was hooked. This summer I went through 2, 800 page books in a week. The Divergent series were the last books that really captured my entire mind. I couldn’t put it down. And I can guarantee you that the second the last book in that series comes out I will shut myself up and read the entire thing all at once.
I love those easy read books that I can speed through and enjoy. But I also have a passion for the classic literature. Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet, ect. They’re challenges for me and as a person that likes to be challenged they’re a perfect fit for me. But as with reading itself I have been able to overcome the challenge of them.
Despite my crappy start, I know I will never lose my passion for reading. Right now I don’t read all that regularly but I still have the want and drive to. I’m the type of reader that will find a series, devour it in a few days and then be left with the feeling that I had my heart ripped out and stepped on when I finish it. This feeling throws me into “post book depression” and I normally remain in it until I find a new series to take me away. But no matter what it is reading is always a huge passion in my life.
