Weekly Blog #12: Drop Everything and READ

Do you guys remember DEAR time? Goodness knows I do. It was one of my favorite things about school. Few things seemed better than criss-cross-applesaucing it up somewhere in New England on the United States of America rug on the second floor of the third grade corner at Waubesa (holy prepositions!). There are so many things I'd do to earn back those fantastic twenty (thirty? forty-five? I don't even remember) minutes of quiet--time to relax, to explore a book of our choice, and to learn how to be better readers. Who decided that we didn't need that anymore?!

This quarter, I have had more assigned reading than I've ever had in a quarter of my high school career (not necessarily length-wise [I think third quarter of my junior year would take the cake for that if I hadn't repressed it] but more so in the number of assignments). I find that I like the majority of what I'm supposed to be reading but that when I don't, I've got a serious issue. My mind gallivants off to places eighty thousand miles from the subject matter of the piece of writing, and I just can't get through it. I count remaining pages every three minutes, hoping desperately that the next is my last.

That's not okay. Reading should not be that way, and I know it. So why has it gotten that bad for me?

It is the pursuit of the answer to this question that reminded me of Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" that we read last summer. The writing explained how our frequent reliance on the Internet could be a big contributor to the problem many of us have with focusing on one piece of writing for a long period of time--a reason why so many of us could admit to having formed a "staccato" way of thinking.

This article, combined with my dilemma and my longing for DEAR time, made me realize that I've discovered another reason for this inability to focus: liking (or, rather, not liking) what we read. Now I know what you're thinking. You're scoffing and you're mentally saying, "DUH, Ali. Of course that matters. You didn't discover anything."

Well, if you'd let me finish, I could explain what I really meant, thank you very much! Ha. What I actually had in mind in saying that was that it seems like these days, the line between reading for work and reading for pleasure is really blurred. It feels like it's gone from "Okay, I have to read this book for Multi-cultural Literature and I'll read this book on the weekends" to "Yeah, the book we're reading for American Novels is a lot better than that book we had to read for College Literature last quarter." Basically, instead of choosing to read things we might like, we're choosing to like (some) things we have to read.

I know there are obvious exceptions to that. Some people really do have time to read what they like, and that's great. But, a lot of people don't get to do that very often or at all, and, in my opinion, that's helping the "lack of focus" issue. People in this situation are the ones choosing to like what they read. In my case, I order what I'm assigned by what seems most interesting and tackle the least impressive things first. Sometimes though, people, myself included, just aren't interested in what they're assigned, and you can't blame them for that. It's just that when this happens, focusing is hard, especially when there isn't a piece of writing of choice to look forward to reading when finished with homework. When this happens, a person has to be "staccato" to get everything done.

And so, I guess my point is that it might be a good idea for me (and anyone who can relate to me) to take this lack of DEAR time into my own hands. I think I just arrived at the sixth time (that I can recall) since the beginning of grade nine that I was able to choose my own piece of writing to read for a class. SIXTH TIME. (And, two-thirds of those came from AP Composition, so thanks, Mr. Kunkle.) Knowing that I've selected that little reading material without constraints is sort of upsetting and has made me realize that change is very necessary. I need to quit starting and stopping books at the mercy of spare time, and I need to get back to doing that spontaneous research of random things that catch my attention, which used to be such a defining part of me.

If I could pick one, just ONE, book and stick to it, I'm almost positive I'd stop feeling like such a slave to my schoolwork, and, without question, I'd enjoy myself. Assuming I'm right about this, trying to make this happen for myself should also reduce that angry, ants-in-my-pants feeling I get when I don't like what I have to read for a class. And boy do I (and will I) need that reduced. . .especially considering I'm not about to stop using the Internet. . .