Bookworm

I miss reading for pleasure.

I used to read all the time. My family would go to the library and come out loaded down with books. I’d be so excited to read them that I’d get started in the car, only reluctantly getting out when we got home. As soon as we got inside and put away the rest of our newfound treasures, I plopped my little bookworm behind on the couch and read and read and read.

I had a tendency to keep reading until I finished a book. I wouldn’t eat, I’d stay up late, and eventually my mom got would get fed up with it all. One of the most ironic parts of my childhood was that, while my friends’ parents were pulling their hair out trying to get their kids to actually read, my parents were practically bald from trying to get me to focus on other things when I was in the middle of a book. It was a constant struggle.

I never identified myself as a student until I came to college. In grade school, I was just going to school because I had to, and learning was a relatively passive thing unless I really enjoyed the topic. Here and now, being a student is my life; it defines me. Not only do I spend a lot of time in class and doing homework, but the way I socialize and spend my free time is affected by the college atmosphere. Being a student is a full-time gig.

Unfortunately, this full-time gig doesn’t really allow time for my reading habits. The only novels I’ve read lately have been assigned. If I decided to go to the library and pick up some reading material that I was truly interested in, the results would be disastrous. Though I do tend to waste a bit of time on Facebook and blogging and watching movies and such, these things are quick and not nearly as time-consuming as reading a book is for me.

So I just don’t really read. During the week, there’s never a free period of time long enough to read an entire book. On the weekends, I’m restless from hours of classrooms and computer screens, so I go out and have fun with friends instead of reading. I haven’t really even thought about reading a book recreationally this entire semester. How sad is that?

Man, once I get out of this pit of homework that I seem always to be scrambling out of, I’m gonna hit up a library.