31 The Arts Issue 12 July 2024 The RGS Gazette What Being a Reader Has Taught Me About Myself Kenan Adjei Agyekum (Year 8) reveals how reading has allowed his own selfdiscovery Although I have been reading since an early age, I have learned lots of things about it this year. Reading was difficult and felt like I had to do it at certain moments, but it was also easy at other times. During the process, I learned more about my reading habits, preferences, and how to change them to make reading more enjoyable and doable. Reading Throughout the Academic Year I often struggled to complete my reading assignments and Accelerated Reader tests during the academic year. This year, it has been difficult to find time to read due to activities and being busy in general. Sometimes, I would leave my reading until the last second, which made it much more stressful and less enjoyable for me. However, I also discovered that I enjoy reading more when I enjoy the book and find it thrilling. For example, reading adventure books like Alex Rider was exciting and made me want to keep reading, even when I was busy. On the other side, books that were uninteresting bored me. This showed me that I needed to find a balance between my other activities and reading. Reading During the Holidays Reading during the holidays was a unique experience compared to normal reading. Without the pressure of homework, I found it much easier to relax and just enjoy my book. I realised that I could read more during my holidays because I had more free time and fewer distractions. Normally, I would never be able to properly sit down and read for lengthy periods of time but during the holidays I had much more time than normal, making reading much easier, and much more enjoyable. Reading doesn’t need too much time, but it is great when you more time for it. Reading as an Escape During my exam week, reading became a way to escape the pressure of studying. At first, I found reading extremely boring, especially in my free time. But once I tried it during my free time in my exam revision, I found it was a great way to spend your free time. I discovered that reading is like a gateway to a new world, with lots of actions and activities that would never happen in the real world. In conclusion, if you find yourself bored during spare time, reading is a great way to utilise the time. Just make sure that you do not neglect your revision. Challenges and Problems Throughout the year, I faced several challenges as a reader. For example, motivating myself to read while wanting to play video games or watch videos was one of the biggest to overcome. Although I found reading enjoyable, I was distracted largely by my video games, as they have always been more appealing to me. To try and tackle this issue, I would set dedicated times that I would have to spend reading, and I rewarded myself if I completed this successfully. This method ended up working great for me, so it is the method I advise people who are not able to focus on reading for extended periods of time. Altogether, reading is fun, but may not be as appealing as other activities. If this applies to you, try methods like mine to maximise your enjoyment of reading. Conclusion This year, I learned that reading is not just about finishing books but about finding joy and having fun while reading the stories. I discovered that I am a better reader when I have the time and space to enjoy what I am reading. Setting goals and finding a balance between playing games and reading is particularly important as well. Most importantly, I realised that reading can be both a challenge and an escape, and with a little effort and creativity, I can make it a rewarding part of my life.
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