Greetings readers!
I have decided that this week I would give you a little more information about me. Tonight I will be sharing with you my journey to becoming a reader.
Like many people out there, reading is one of my most treasured pastimes. The ability to read is one of my most beloved gifts and it has opened my eyes to worlds unseen.(Literally because most exist within the pages of a book) There are so many things to discover and learn from reading. It enriches your imagination and makes you witness the impossible.
To be frank I was not always the biggest reader. In fact I disliked reading very much when I was a child, especially as I was just beginning to learn how to read. It was difficult for me to pay attention to the words and so my progress was very slow. Many times I would just end up looking at the pictures and making up my own story and when the time came for teacher student conference, I would sit in front of my second grade teacher embarrassed. I was the girl who said “is-land” for island and “sweeter” for sweater.
Anyways, eventually as time went by and my mom complained that I was spending to much time in front of the T.V., she dragged me to the library. There, I picked out a couple of books, took them home, read half of one, returned them and sat back down on the couch. Clearly her attempts to get me into reading failed. So in one last try she threw this at me:
“Ay, hija you will never be as smart as the other kids if you don’t read.”
I am not a spiteful person, nor was I back then. But this hit home. I tremendously disliked being called less intelligent then the other kids in my class. I was always the smartest in my class because even then I was a nerd. I always did my homework (save reading study) and aced every test. (Now when I look back I see I could be very boastful! Bad Rendz. Show some humility.)
Anyways, I took my mothers bait and at school the next day I went to the school library. I took out one book; Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park. I brought it home, sat down, and read. Perhaps I had finally chosen the right book because I finished it in a week and went back for the sequel. After Junie B. I read the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osbourne. From then on I slowly found my reading interests and visited the library and book fair more frequently. (Too often for my mother’s and father’s sake!) Soon enough next time I went to the library I chose more books that peaked to my interest. I was becoming a better and faster reader.
Yet I was not a book dragon. I still did not find that complete pull towards books. Then one summer my cousin introduced to this famous YA novel. I don’t know if you guys know this book. 😉 It was really popular in 2012. It has nothing to do with hunger, really it was about the game. That’s right I read The Hunger Games. All three, in a total of nine days. I had finally found my calling. YA literature had come to claim me and I have been its loyal subject ever since. From then on while I continued to explore the middle grade section of the library I slowly transitioned to the teen section.
Fast forward to today and I have graduated to book dragon status. I have never regretting picking up the Junie B. series and it will forever be known as the series that got me reading. Thank you, Barbara Park. If you ask me now, reading is my new favourite hobby, pass time, and job. Reading truly changed my life for the better. It enriched my imagination and showed me worlds that I could explore and learn from.
Well, that is how the journey started. How I evolved into the person I am today, into the reader I am today. I gush inside every time I think about the gift of reading. I sadden at the thought that some cannot read or chooses not to. It’s a GIFT people, cherish it.
That is all for today. I hope you enjoyed this little story of myself. Next week I will be sharing some of my Favourites (books, movies, genres, etc.) so stay tuned.
Happy Reading!
-Rendz
Reading with Rendz 