My World of Reading

Timeline

2 years old: Attempted to read books. Kind of hard to when it’s upside down.

4 years old: Was taught how to read Green Eggs and Ham by my mother. I HATED it. I hated the way the    words sounded out of my mouth and hated how they were spelled. I was always crying because I disliked it so much and my mother always got frustrated.

6 years old: I tried to stay away from books as much as I could. I didn’t want to read since it left me angry and upset, not that my parents tried to encourage me to read much during that time. My days mostly consisted with going outside to play and practicing piano.

8 years old: The first book I owned was a surprise gift from my mother.  It was from the American Girl collection and I honestly didn’t know what to do with it. I wasn’t a big reader at the time and I didn’t think that such a pretty book was meant to be read; it had a picture of a young beautiful girl on it and the pages were lined with gold. It wasn't until 2 years later that I actually picked it up and began to read it.

10 years old: The Accelerated Reading program at the elementary school got me to read again. At first, I really just wanted the points to get cool prizes but after the first few books I forgot about the points and just started reading for fun. The stories would take me outside my boring world and bring me to a land with such adventure and fun! I remember walking into the library and the librarian would say, “Getting another book today, Nicole?” I continued this process until elementary school ended.

12 years old: The summer between elementary school and junior high was the best. Because both of my parents worked, my sister and I spent the night at my aunt’s house and she would take us to the library every day. We would spend hours there reading and take armfuls of books back to her house to read some more. Out of everyone in my family, my aunt Julia encouraged me the most to read what I liked and to have fun with it.

13 years old: You would think that junior high would be a time to get serious in your studies since it sets the foundations of your work ethic, but I found that I didn’t have to study that hard to get the good grades I wanted. I did all my homework early and had tons of time to read. I would even pull all-nighters because I just couldn’t put the book down. Sure, I was quite tired the next day, but it was worth it to me.

14-15 years old: My mother started destroying/ threatening to destroy my books because I was reading more than studying for tests and homework. It made me scared to buy or even borrow books; I didn’t want the books to be harmed.

15-16 years old: I tried to read as often as I could but could hardly find the time once I started attending the Utica Academy for International Studies. It really made me upset because I used books as a stress release.

17 years old-now: I now borrow books from my friend since I see her more than the library. I really can’t wait until I have time to read again. I miss it so much.