Resolve to Read by Kelly

Resolve to Read by Kelly - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

When was the last time you walked into a library? Personally, I have not visited a library in months. This is, possibly, the worst thing that has happened to our students over the past decade. Our generation has pulled away from reading of adventures in faraway lands or even right at home to staring at screens for hours, including myself. Reading is the backbone of education, and pulling away from it would only create an incompetent society. With the new year already underway, I have decided to make reading my primary resolution in 2016 to become a better student.
Growing up, I would read often. Once a week my school would send each class to the library to choose a book to read. Books played a prominent role in my childhood as they allowed my young imagination to run wild. However, when I entered high school that all changed. The only books I read were the ones that English class would require. Other activities seemed to take more importance over reading. Looking back on it now, as a senior in high school, I wish I had taken time out of my day to read more. Reading is what improves your vocabulary which helps people communicate their feelings and ideas more properly and in a more sophisticated manner. It offers alternate views on various topics. By doing so, it widens your comprehension of other people and their ideas. Lastly, reading strengthens you. Whether it be fiction or nonfiction, books instill you with the hope of characters who triumph, or teach you ways to better yourself. Which is why, with the arrival of 2016, I would like to pick up a book, rather than my phone.
Being a good student means learning both in and outside of a classroom, and that is what books offer. By reading, I can become a better student who is more aware of the world around me. I hope that by reading in this new year, I will become a more intelligent person in the classroom, and after I graduate, in the world.