The Day I Learned To Read

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Although this quote is more famously said by Frederick Douglass, I would often hear my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. McComb, say it throughout my first year of schooling. I remembered this quote, even after roughly fourteen years, mainly because as I have grown I realized how accurate it was. Every single day I have found myself reading, whether it is an assignment, some form of literature, or social media through the internet; therefore, I couldn’t imagine how my life would be today if I never learned to read. When it comes down to it, reading plays an important role throughout my life when dealing with school, personal interest, and my future. Bright primary colors, miniature tables and chairs,

That being said, throughout my middle school years I enjoyed being capable of escaping the real world for the duration of the time I read a book. I strictly stated “middle school years” because that was a time in which I was able to choose the books I wanted to read in school, where as now I read books that I have to based on a curriculum. Aside from that, whenever I was going through a hard time, whether it be from personal issues to stress from school, I would try to find a book that I could get lost in, such as the well-known paranormal novel Twilight. Flashback to seventh grade, when I first became interested in the famous trilogy. I remember sitting in class with spare time and I was too stressed out to focus on schoolwork, so I went to the library to find a distraction. Having heard all the rage about the book that depicted pale hands holding a bright red apple, I decided to check it out. Next thing you know, within a couple weeks I had already read all three books. Although my escape in that situation included a world where romance issues are beyond those imaginable and paranormal figures are a part of “the usual,” a very unrealistic combination, I still enjoyed being able to put my mind elsewhere other than in reality. I am a firm believer that any book, fiction or nonfiction, has a way being connected to real life strictly because every book offers some sort of lesson that I can take from.

Being that I wasn’t very interested in reading as a child, I am surprised how I have grown to enjoy it as much as I do. I am currently in my freshman year of college, and I already feel as if I have to read a lot of material for my courses, although I do believe that everything I have to read will be beneficial towards my remaining years of college. Call me old-fashioned, but I do prefer to have a physical copy of a book over a computer-based copy. I feel as if the state in which you find a book also builds character to it. In the case of whether I’m going to choose a dated back book that has aged in color with that “old book” scent most readers know about, or a bright screen on a computer that is very bland and doesn’t make me interested, I would pick good ol’ scenty book. Physical copies also help me in the way of staying off technology-based objects. Reading, to me, is a hobby that use to be what got me away from being glued to a computer; and now, reading material can be in the tab right next to a social media one. Since I realized how dependent I can be on all types of technology I prefer to enjoy a book somewhere away from the