Hey everyone. 9 more posts to catch up with the times! Anyway, Remember I started my English unit with Journalism? Well, I wanted to post my final article, which got pretty good reviews from my teacher :) But please feel free to be a critic in the comments !
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By Shruthi
The world keeps progressing, and we keep adapting to it, but in the process, are we losing out on doing simple things such as reading books? Shruthi Natarajan will uncover the benefits of reading, and how we can make it a habit.
“There is no friend as loyal as a book”
- Ernest Hemingway(American Author)
This quote cannot be more accurate, especially for the generation of digital natives and computer geeks we all are a part of. As technology advances, and the use of it becomes more and more of a habit, the little treasures of life will be lost to history. Children of the future will be oblivious to the vast variety of books and authentic english words that once ruled the world. Why is the love of reading books becoming endangered? Why are people “too busy” or “too bored” to take a few minutes of the day to just sit down and delve into another universe?
Sreenidhi Venkatesh returned from school at 4:00 pm, with another pile of unwanted worksheets, and a few hours worth of homework. She goes to her room, and knows that if she doesn’t start her work now, she won’t finish it by the due day. Her mom calls her for snacks, but she prefers it to be given to her in her room. As usual, pencils and markers are strewn across her desk, and a pile of dusty library books lay in a corner, knowing that they will not be read . “ Ugh! I have to write for ten minutes as part of my English homework!” she moans, realising that 10 minutes of writing is now part of the other 4 subjects she has for homework. After all, being in Eighth grade isn’t a joke! But it doesn’t take her long, and at around 7:00 pm, she finishes all her work.
“ Now what? “ she asked herself. Her eyes take in her surroundings, and suddenly, her glance falls on the pile of books she planned to read in the summer holidays, but really she had finished only one of them. “ Oh no! How could I leave these amazing books for later? I am done with only one in the course of 2 months, when I would have read around 15 like last year!” she gasped, and raced to the books. She blew the dust off, and started flipping the pages. And she read. She read for 2 hours, and by the end of it, she was on the 14th chapter of her book, and learnt 25 new words!
This evidence is just 1 of many others of how reading can impact your life. A survey was conducted at United World College of South East Asia, East Campus with 20 Eighth grade kids. Questions were asked about their liking of books, and the regularity of their reading. 19/20 kids said they loved to read- but they all said they spend hardly anytime with the books. This clearly indicates that people do love to read, but as they reach the time of their lives when the get a lot of work, they just cut down their reading time, thinking that it won’t affect them. People feel that reading is just a pass time, which in a way it is, but there is much more to it than doing it for fun.
You may be surprised to find out that the Harvard Business Review wrote an article in 2009 about how reading can develop your abilities in leading- “The leadership benefits of reading are wide-ranging. Evidence suggests reading can improve intelligence and lead to innovation and insight.”
This tells us that by reading, you can possibly become a future leader, and books are your keys to success.Statistics indicate that people spend only 18 minutes of their leisure time on reading- and on the other hand, 2.7 hours is spent watching TV! If we have so much time to watch tv, why not add in some time to read? You may be wondering about what benefits reading has on us.
Research suggests that by reading, you can decrease stress levels by a noticeable margin. By spending at least 10 minutes everyday to read, you can definitely become happier and start having a more positive outlook towards life. And not only that, but reading improves your vocabulary without you even knowing it! Within no time, you will find yourself understanding more of the real world, and applying the words you learnt to daily life. Especially if you are in your teenage years, reading can give you an understanding of who you are, and what you can become.
Arshia Alluri, a grade 6 student commented on her latest book The Fault in the Stars, by saying “ I have never liked romantic novels. But after reading this book, and giving this author a shot, I have realised that I have a new favourite genre! “ With this, it becomes even more clear that you can open hidden corners of the inner you, and start figuring out what it is that really attracts you. Alongside that, by reading you are indirectly unleashing your own creativity and imagination, because I am sure that when you read, you can picture vivid images of what is going on in the story.
What some readers may not realize is that reading increase your memory power and your concentration levels. So while you think that you have a lot of work and can’t make time to read, remember that reading is, realistically speaking, your work! It can be a big assistance during office or school hours, as you become sharper and smarter. Ever wondered why the so called “nerd” of your class is so smart? It is because he or she takes time to read and find out solutions to certain questions they have, because reading also makes you curious, and being curious helps you learn more. Our favourite author as children , Dr. Seuss himself, has quoted “ The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
What, you may ask, should you do to get into the habit of reading? Start by setting a goal for yourself. Some questions to consider before choosing the right book to read would be-
What do you want to get out of this book? What qualities are you looking to gain out of it? What type of book do you prefer to read? The most important thing is that you should never let go of the habit, and no matter what, the stories you read will stay with you forever.
As Marcus Tullius Cicero stated- “A room without books is like a body without a soul
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How was it? Please do comment and give me your reviews! :D
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