As a child, I could often be found spending my time doing two things: digging for bugs in the garden or reading a book. Being relatively introverted, I enjoyed occupying myself with activities that allowed me to be in my own little world. As I have grown, this has remained the same. While I cannot say I enjoy digging for bugs as much as I once did, reading books and being outside have remained two of my favorite pastimes. 

Throughout my life, I have flip flopped between what I want to do. Teacher, journalist, veterinarian, audiologist; I have spent many years indecisive. Nothing felt truly right. I desired an amalgamation of my two loves, but how could I combine digging for bugs and reading? For a while, I denied these passions. In a world that is dying, why would I study something so painful? I tried to focus on other things, and ignore my desire to go back to what made me happiest. But, as many know, you can only do this for so long. 

The summer leading to my sophomore year, I had a crisis. I did not like what I was studying, and I was setting myself up to be in a career I would not enjoy. I completely changed my set course, and switched into the field I am in now. A true incorporation of my childhood passions and comfort, I have found what I want to do.

In the 21st century, the function of reading has began to be geared more towards education rather than enjoyment and that is shown through the value of reading due to the decrease in children reading books for enjoyment rather than having to read for school. There are plenty of novels, plays, poetry, etc. still has the ability to transport someone to a different world and spark that reader’s love for reading but other types of media and technology, like video games and phones, have slowly began to overtake the traditional literature and encourage kids to no longer read. The change from literature to technolgy has been shown in different studies of the behaviors of children and teens. An example of this is, from the article “The Real Reason Kids Aren’t Reading More”, is that by the year 2021, social media usage in tweens and teens have rose drastically, to where tweens spend five and a half hours a day on social media while teens spend eight and a half hours on social media. This shows that technology has slowly become a more prevelent type of media in children which, depending on how it is used, can prevent a child from gaining the reading skills they would otherwise obtain if they were reading some type of traditional literature.

Source: https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-real-reasons-kids-arent-reading-more/2022/03

Throughout my life, I have always loved to write. In fourth grade, I would write fictitious stories in a binder and pass them around the class for all my friends to read. They would beg me for new chapters, and I loved that feeling. I built a community among a group of friends and bonded in silly literature. In high school, I was a sufficient writer. I strived in my classes that required essays. My fictitious stories in the binder throughout high school turned into daily non-fiction journaling. I have archives of my 16-year-old thoughts preserved in thick 6-dollar notebooks from the drugstore. These pieces of writing are my most priced; even if they are immature thoughts about attractions and geometry, they’re mine. Unfortunately, in college, I started to despise writing. I received my first “D” on an essay. It would take me hours to write a paragraph. I turned in every writing assignment late or accepted the failures and incompletes. I developed a mental block, and the journals that would take me three months to fill started to sit on my desk for years. I am not the same person I once was. I am constantly reminded of my old habits, and I have tried to be the 16-year-old writing in study hall or the fourth grader staying up all night working on a “novel.” Instead, I am learning about literature and, in turn, will learn how to be an author again. A great author is developed through reading and understanding. I hope to fall back in love with writing.