Here’s My Story:
When I was in the 1st grade, I had a speech development problem. To this day, I have trouble pronouncing words that begin with the letters “W” and “R.” I went to speech class in elementary school because I did not read very well—I did not understand the main idea, sight words, the context of sentences, or the theme of a story.
I did not read books at home; I watched television instead. My mother would read to me when I was around six years old, but I only memorized the stories she read. I hurried in school to finish my class work because I was struggling with bullying from classmates, which made it harder to focus completely.
When I got my first library card, around the age of 10, I checked out my first book: Sonnets From the Portuguese, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This book was way above my reading level. I didn’t know what the text meant, but I liked it because it was about love.
These days, I still struggle with the desire to read books. But I’ve found that reading all comes down to leisure, preference, and finding the quiet time to focus. Most of the time, I skim through and don’t process what I am reading in order to hurry up and finish the book. But I admit this only shows my own laziness and lack of motivation to read.
A love of reading is something I am working hard at to develop. I know that reading will only help me in my online writing and my public speaking sessions at my local community center.
