Reading is a major component to life. Everyday millions of words are read, but sometimes I wonder does reading even matter? It may help with expanding your vocabulary and advancing your literacy but why must we always read and work to get better?

            Reading is always enforced in school and a certain number of books and the certain level of reading are also enforced for each class. But why must we read? Reading challenges oneself if the reading level is more challenging then what has been read before. It helps the brain make connections to things and you become smarter and learn more. Reading teaches you a skill that is always need. Reading is such a common thing to do. It is also entertaining and helps with the imagination. By reading different genres of books one may come to realize there is something they may enjoy and pick it up as a hobby such as volunteering or playing an instrument. It allows for one to escape from the real world and escape into a fantasy world of dragons and spells or aliens and spaceships.

            On the flip side, one may feel that reading is pointless and a waste of time. Reading may be considered more of a chore instead of an enjoyment. Also one may question why reading more challenging books should be a requirement if they can already read the things that are necessary such as menus or directions.

            I personally like to read. I love losing myself in a book and just blocking out the world. But I don’t usually read books that necessarily challenge me; I mostly just read books that interest me. I’m not opposed to challenging myself though. I occasionally read a book I might not normally choose just to mix it up. I think that reading gives you the power to express yourself in a certain genre and people are able to learn more about your interests from a genre. If you read a lot of sci-fi fantasy or maybe historical fiction, people may stop and realize this and have a common interest in you. I think reading is necessary to expand ones way of thinking and improve their literacy.

            Literacy has always been a part of my life. I have grown up in a house that encouraged reading and writing and a little competition always kept that spark of getting interest in it.

            As the youngest sibling I always looked up to my brother. I always strived to be better then him at something. Also being a girl always curbed that determination since I was always looked down upon for being “weaker” or “not as smart.” Being younger I was at a different reading level then my brother but I always wanted to read the same books as him. I would read almost everyday trying to get better so I could read like him. He also would read so much faster than me so I would try and read more to get better so I could read just as fast. He would purposely tell me how he was reading harder books then me and how he could read so much faster and better.  I was always envious of him and wanted to be just like him. I would push myself and began reading more challenging books than the ones I was reading.

            One day my brother announced that he was going to start writing a book. I, of course being my competitive self, decided I was also going to write a book. He was big on reading, that’s pretty much all he did in his free time. He had such creative ideas for books because he read so many different kinds he had many different themes in his imagination that he could put together. I was always jealous of that too. By having an older brother, it helped my literacy by pushing me to improve my reading skills and pushing me to read more challenging books then I normally would. It helped me in school because I was in the advanced reading group in my classes. This was beneficial to me because I didn’t have to be tied down with readers who weren’t as good and I could develop my literacy skills even more.

            My brother was the one who impacted my literacy the most. He always made me strive to get better and improve. I looked up to him a lot and always hoped I could eventually read the same kind of books as him.  My mom also impacted me because she always encouraged reading. She enrolled us in the reading group at the library and always took us there to get new books. Reading was a big part of my childhood.

                Reading for leisure and reading for school are totally different for me. I can read for hours but if I don’t like the book I get very frustrated. When I read for leisure I’m able to pick my own book and I know I will enjoy it. For school we are forced to read and it is torture for me.

                When I read on my own I am able to sit back and relax and just read the book. I can spend as much time as I want to, to read it. For school there are deadlines and you have to read a certain amount of pages per class. This stresses me out because most of the time I don’t like the books so I don’t have motivation to read them. Also having seven other classes to worry about, I have to somehow do all my homework for all the other classes and read about fifty pages. Reading for school just makes me not want to ever do it because I feel like I could be using that time to do worksheets or essays for other classes. When I read for leisure I am also able to just read it and enjoy it. When I read for school each chapter has to be pulled apart and analyzed and I feel that the book should be left alone and read as it is instead of having to analyze it. If I liked the book that we read in class, I end up disliking it because so much time was spent analyzing it and talking about it and it becomes boring and a nuisance. When I read alone I am able to enjoy the book more and just enjoy what the author has written instead of trying to figure out a deeper meaning.

                On the other hand school books are good because it exposes me to different genres of books and books I personally wouldn’t have picked out to read. Some books that I have run a crossed in school have been very good and I appreciate the fact that I was exposed to those books. I was also able to learn that books do have a deeper meaning and I learned about different symbols and how objects represent different things such as water could symbolize baptism and purity. Also reading in school I’m able to finish a book. When I read on my own sometimes I become too busy to read and end up not reading for awhile and forgetting what was going on in the book. This angers me but when I read for school this never happens because there are such strict deadlines. Analyzing books in school allow me to understand parts of the book that might not have been clear to me and didn’t make sense and in school I can ask questions and have it explained to me. Also in school I am able to discuss the book with people since they would be reading the same one. I hate when I’m reading on my own and it’s a really good book and I have no one to discuss the book with.

                Reading is something I really enjoy and even though I may enjoy reading for my own pleasure instead of for school, I have learned more  about books and have been more exposed to different genres to figure out more what I like and what I dislike.

            When I was little, reading was something that was constantly enforced. My mom would always read to my older brother, Andrew, and I. As we got older we were able to read along with her. Every night we would read a book or a few chapters together. Occasionally my brother and I would reenact the book that we have just read. Reading was something that always brought us together.

            The magic tree house books were a favorite in my house. The main characters Annie and Jack always went on such interesting adventures that seemed so crazy and real. Andrew and I would sit around for awhile and talk about what they did then would try to act everything out and pretend like we were them. It worked out well because Jack was older then Annie and Andrew is older then me. Every time we would go to the book store we would always try to find a new Magic Tree House book. The author constantly wrote them so we were always able to get a new book which was really exciting for us. The books really brought us together and allowed for me and my brother to get along for about an hour.

            As we got older we stopped reading together and began just reading with my mom alone because we were at different reading levels. We started going to the library a lot to get books that we individually enjoyed and that were to our reading levels. My mom made us join the library reading group which we did for many years. We would go about once a week and pick out different books to read. During the summer the reading group would say go and read as many books as you can in the summer and write down the title and author. When we rejoined the reading group in the fall we would see who read the most books in our age group. My brother and I were always competitive about this. Most years me and my brother won prizes for reading the most amount of books in our group.  My favorite books were Amelia Bedelia, Junie B. Jones, and princess books. I love the Little Mermaid was my favorite book. Goodnight Moon was also another good book that I read often as well as Go Dog GO. Go Dog Go was the very first book that I read all by myself. It was a very proud moment for me I felt really special and told everyone that would listen to me. It was also my brother’s first book that he read which isn’t surprising because I always looked up to him and wanted to be like him.

            Reading was something that was just always done in our house. I still love to read but only when I can read the books I enjoy and want to read. If I’m forced to read I don’t enjoy and it at all. I read with my five year old neighbor when I baby-sit and it reminds me of how I used to read every night when was his age.