Why I Read and Why You Should Too by Jack

Why I Read and Why You Should Too by Jack - July 2017 Scholarship Essay

If you ask any teacher in my school, the first thing they will say about me is how often I read. I read 2-3 books every week, everything from history, science, classic literature, and philosophy. Teachers are always impressed, but students are either indifferent or confused. Why would I ever read anything that was not forced upon me be an English teacher? For me, the answer is simple. Reading is my way to get an edge in my education, a way for me to be slightly less ignorant of the culture and history of the world. I have a reputation in school for being smart, the kind of student where a B is blasphemy. But that is not natural, I work hard for it, and reading is a major part of that. As it turns out, education can be outside of classroom.
If you find an English class difficult, then read a few classics not included in the syllabus. Read Slaughterhouse 5, read Crime and Punishment, and, if you are feeling especially lucky, read Ulysses. Let’s just say you do not fully understand everything, which will probably be the case, then that is perfectly okay. Anything gained will be worth it, even it is just remembering one quote or finding that one symbol. Even better, with many books, history is innate. Industrial England, read Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens; Russian Revolution, read Animal Farm by George Orwell; American Romanticism, read Walden by Henry David Thoreau. The point is that with every age in history, there is a fictional book that uses history as its setting without the “boredom” of nonfiction.
To the students who ask why I read so much, I pose to you the following question: Why don’t you read enough? I’ve never understand the intellectual callousness towards books, as if those things contain information. I want students to understand that teachers are fallible, they can never give you everything. This is not a criticism of teachers, but perhaps you can take the step to teach yours of teachers, but perhaps you can take the step to teach yourself something. Begin a unit in history class already knowing the major themes, begin phycology class already knowing about action potentials. You won’t believe how much time it will save you or how much easier it is to understand a topic! For me, there is no excuse. I want to always try work to understand, to get ahead, to make my life just a bit easier. Reading is how I do it, and I believe it can help other students too.