Reading Has Affected My Life, And It Has The Power To Affect Yours

Many people don't get to experience the pleasure of reading, whether it be because they are too busy, or something like the school has ruined it for them, but for those who have been able to enjoy reading, it creates an escape. Along with the different worlds, books can take you to, reading can also help you academically. It could be a fantasy, horror or romance book and it could still help, and in more than one academic way as well. In other words, if you can enjoy reading, it will result in multiple different types of benefits.

For my experiences with reading, I began with the typical BOB books as a little kid, which I loved. Then I progressed to the Arthur books when I wasn't able to convince my parent to read it to me, and eventually, my parents even read me a few light horror stories, the one I remember most happened to be called "Bloody Fingers". Then, I finally began to dive into the fantasy novels, starting with the classic Percy Jackson series. From that point on I was in love with reading. Every night I would look forward to snuggling up under my covers and diving into my book. I would often read past midnight, resulting in me getting through at least 100 pages per night. I guess you could say it was like a passion.

I was always an awkward/shy kid, so I didn't have very much social interaction, but when I read books I felt like a different person. I would envision myself as the main character, or sometimes as the main character's friend and would forget the world around me. If it was a battle scene I would imagine myself in their shoes, wearing anything from full-on medieval armor to ragged clothes, or if it was an emotional moment, I would feel as if I knew the characters and feel a sort of sadness. In a way, the characters inspired me. I wanted to be more like them. Cunning, funny, pretty, brave, and talented.

Unfortunately, things such as school tend to ruin reading for many people. They get forced to carefully read boring/unentertaining books and then write reports on them, making reading more entertaining books a hassle as well. Of course, there is a good reason behind making students do such assignments, but if more teachers gave them more of a choice, such as giving them three different books to choose from for the assignment, it may cause the students to have a less negative attitude towards books, as well as giving the teacher more diversity in papers he/she has to grade.

If you do give reading a chance, it can result in multiple different benefits.

Of course, there is the obvious one where you gain a hobby that you can do when bored, but there are also so many more. If you read often, your reactivity can increase, along with your vocabulary and your writing ability. The first thing that may pop into people's minds when mentioning these benefits is that it will mostly just help in their English classes. Well, while it is a great help for that class, it can also help with writing lab reports, communicating with your peers, writing a resume, making a good impression at interviews or with your teacher, and many more.

In the end, reading is not only a creative, satisfying hobby, but it can also result in being extremely useful in everyday life. It's a good way to connect with others, and a good way to exceed in certain areas.