"There is no book so bad... that it does not have something good in it" by Marcos

"There is no book so bad... that it does not have something good in it" by Marcos - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

Nowadays, many of the people around me claim that reading is a lost art. They say that media has completely taken over the population, and that the new generations prefer watching any plot deprived cartoon show or the next big action movie with Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in it. Well, I beg to differ. Reading is a powerful way of acquiring knowledge and looking at the world with a different perspective. Technology is taking over the world, but I believe the pleasure of reading a good book will never fade away. It’s ironic that such a statement would come from a freshman pursuing a degree in Television Production, but it’s the truth. The one book that made me realize how beautiful was the world of literature was definitely The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

I’m from San Juan, Puerto Rico; an island that takes a lot of pride in their culture and traditions and it just so happens that Don Quixote is part of it. When I was in my junior year of high school, our Spanish teacher gave us about a month to read this book, which is approximately 1,000 pages long. Of course, when the assignment was given I felt like it was a complete waste of my time. Strangely enough, I began reading the book and actually enjoyed it. It was a feeling I never had before with any other book. The adventures of Don Quixote and his companion Sancho Panza were mind-blowing and had a moral life lesson behind every singe one of them. I found myself reading for hours, disregarding any assignments I had for the next day or any other responsibilities.

One of the most important things I learned from Don Quixote was that even though we may not always be able to control what happens to us, we can control how we perceive it. Don Quixote’s way of approaching every situation that was presented to him was amazing and full of imagination. Students who read this feel the urge of dreaming big and become aware that anything is possible as long as you put your mind into it. In a world that is full of hopelessness and despair because of all the violence and disrespect for one another, a book with life lessons such as Don Quixote is severely needed.

Keep in mind that this is all based on personal opinions. My idea of a perfect book may not be the same as yours. With that being said, I do believe that this book must be in every high school’s syllabus between 11th grade and 12th grade. If we make an effort in promoting books like this one to our younger generations, maybe we will have a much more culturally diverse and knowledgeable society in planet Earth.