I've always loved to read.
I can remember as a child begging my grandma to read me all of the books that she brought home from her kindergarten class room. She read to me, because I was a slow learner when I was young. I can remember my older sister reading her chapter books and laughing at me, because I couldn't read. Don't get me wrong I tried. I stared at the pages and the letters and formulated them into my own story. I thought I was so clever tricking my family into believing that I could read chapter books just like my older sister, until one day she pointed out that my book was upside down..
When I finally learned how to read, I was hooked. I was always that kid in elementary school who got in trouble for reading during the teacher's lesson. I loved Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. My grandma bought me the whole collection and after that I never looked back.
When I reached junior high, I remember my grandma asking me what I wanted for Christmas. I quickly replied, "a book". She took me to Target and I remember reading the back of the novel The Bell Jar and finding its contents to be so daring and edgy that I just had to get it. It was that year that I really started finding my favorite genres of literature. I started reading books that were well... a little out there. But I mean, I've always been a little out there!
In high school I was a full on book worm nerd. I spent my time reading books like Running with Scissors, Dry, or Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim. I always had a book in my hands, I would even read when I walked down the halls. I loved going to English class and discussing books and getting a new classic to wrap my hands around. By this time, I already had two bookshelves full of books in my room. I did have a literary weakness though, and that was Nicolas Sparks. God how I love his books. I remember getting so mad when my friend Bailey was talking about how she loved the movie A Walk To Remember and me yelling "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN READ THE BOOK!" But I mean, come on, we all know that movie didn't do the book justice.. I loved reading sad romantic books, or books that were sarcastically brutal. A strange combination, but you wouldn't expect anything less coming from me. Like I said, I was a nerd, and reading was not only a form of entertainment for me, but it was an escape from my socially awkward world. Reading became a part of who I was, and books amazed me, and it was shortly after that notion that I realized I wanted to be an English teacher.
I am a secondary English education major because reading influenced my life so much. I want so desperately to be that teacher who gave a kid a book that changed his or her life and made that individual want so much more out of the world. Reading has brought me to that path, and I want as many people as possible to join me on the journey. I was just some kid who got caught reading upside down and now I can proudly say that I've read my sister under the table. After all, readers are leaders, right?
