A Personal Account of Struggling with Reading Books But Enjoying Writing

I will personally never forget walking into my senior English class in high school. I remember my English teach Archie (Mr. Archibald was his real name, but everyone called him Archie) asking the class who did not know what Jane Schaffer was. Me being new to Bonita High School raised my hand and watched as everyone started to dislike me more than before. Archie continued his lecture and I began to feel like he didn't notice I had no clue who this Jane lady was! After his fairly quick lecture, he came to my desk and taught me all the basics of writing in a matter of fifteen minutes. That was the beginning of my love for writing.

I was never the one people would find at Starbucks reading books. To be quite honest, I am usually the one out at night painting the world. If I were given the choice to sit and read or to go out and goof off, goofing off would be the route I’d take without hesitation. Its hard because I I have always loved the thought of having a little reading nook in my house one day. Being all curled up with a nice cup of coffee reading a novel seems to be a relaxing way to go about life. The problem is, I can never sit down long enough to thoroughly read a book. I struggle with having to focus on one thing for so long. Usually, I get bored! I think a major reason as to why I do not enjoy reading is because it usually is predictable. The guy always gets the girl or the guy does come back home. It usually is the same ending, just with different characters and a different setting. So, usually I am able to free write an essay with ease and not have any problems.

I usually do a lot of free writing. I usually enjoy writing without structure or MLA Formatting. I like to make my own art in my writing. One of my favorite English teachers told me once that writing can be one of the most boring things to do. But once you make it your own and add your personality in your work, suddenly it becomes for like artwork than an assignment you are forced to do to get the grade. After that advice was given to me, I am able to write so much more and give the work so much more meaning because I can actually relate to what it is I am writing about. I did an essay about war veterans back in Jr. High. The requirements for this essay was that I had to interview someone who had experience fighting for their country and ask questions such as their experience and how things were back when they severed compared to how they are now. My uncle fought in the Vietnam war and interviewing him was such an eye opener because they way they were treated back then would never even be thought about today. Looking at the way he explained in full detail of how they were treated made the essay sentimental and gave me this feeling that this particular writing is more than just for a grade. I went home and wrote the essay and printed two copies. One for my teacher and another for my uncle. After the essay was graded and handed back to me, my teacher left a note in red pen at the back of the last page. It said, “Great work! I liked the personal and sentimental feeling I was given reading this piece. Keep it up!”