What Does Schoolwork Mean To Me

I remember the first time I read a book in its entirety—and the first book I read that I thoroughly enjoyed—because it was only a few years ago. Unlike most English majors, I was not a “born reader.” I did not read for pleasure until after I graduated high school, which was a mere four years ago. I remember during high school I did not like to read and even tried to avoid any reading unless I was forcefully assigned to for, say, a book report or some project that required reading. Because of this, I considered reading to being schoolwork—and I did not want to do schoolwork. So whenever I have a student that says they do not like to read (I have quite a few), I feel I am able to make a genuine connection and able to sympathize with them, because

I remember reading Farewell to Arms for my one of my English classes and I really enjoyed it—even though I only read part of it and listened to the rest on audio (yeah, I really did not like to read at the time.) So I told her I would like to start reading Hemingway and recommended I read his first book The Sun Also Rises to start me off. I remember this being a quick exchange because I was back home probably within a half hour, but when I returned home I had a copy of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and was part excited, part nervous about reading

I am better able to communicate myself verbally and in my writing and, quite interestingly, I am better able to gather and arrange my thoughts in a more cohesive manner. Fast forward almost half a decade later, Hemingway is still one of my favorite writers to read, but I now enjoy reading the works of Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon, and David Foster Wallace. And that is another great thing about reading—you are able to pick up a book that was written either last year or last century, and your first experience picking up and reading that book is something only you can