The average human makes about 612 decisions a day, 4,900 a week, and 254,800 a year. At the end of it all, we rarely can recall any decision that has changed us in a significant way. I’ll name two.
The first time happened in the second grade, when I decided to pick up a Baby-sitter’s Little Sister’s book in Finley Elementary School’s small and colorful library. It was a spinoff series from the actual Baby-sitter’s Club series and was not, I now admit, the best piece of literature. I was rather surprised at myself, since I barely knew how to read and I didn’t like books. I don’t know how I came to dislike books, but it probably had to do with my sister reading so many books instead of playing with me. I had even written in my Hello Kitty diary that I thought books were bad magic that makes people mean and boring. So, despite my unfounded dislike of books, I found myself checking it out of the library. Lo and behold, I was hooked! After the first one, I read through the whole series which is quite a feat for a second grader considering there were 122 books. I didn’t realize it when I made the random decision to pick it up, but that little book became my gateway to the wonderful world of reading. After that year, my parents rarely saw me without a book in my hands. It may seem like a trivial ordeal if one just looks at the facts. She learned to like reading, so what? Well, at the malleable age of six, I was like a sponge soaking up information. The information I had available, I got from books. That being said, my belief, my thoughts, my very ideals came from the books I greedily devoured. There’s a saying, “You are who you hang out with.” So it came as no surprise that I molded my personality from the books that became my ever co...
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...eption and my approach to life and people. I believe the experiences and lessons Drumline has given me have made me a better, more open minded human being.
So, there are two unforgettable decisions I’ve made that have shaped me into the person I am today. I still marvel at how different my life turned out to be from what I had imagined. It should be noted that I am a planner. I debate internally, I plan, and I make lists on almost everything. I had already had my life mapped out since the third grade. What I didn’t realize and what I now know is that sometimes people change and when people change their plans change as well. And sometimes, the results are even more glorious than the original plan. There have been predictable choices and some unpredictable ones. For now, what I can say with certainty is that these choices have defined me. I am me and my decisions.
...a life lesson. The military style of drum line is what has helped me improve in my schoolwork, my family life, and my friendships; I was trained to never give up even if success seems impossible.
I read a lot of the Junie B Jones book my mom brought home for me. I may not have been as fast as my family was, but for me I was fast enough. I had made my very first friends at the library and even though I knew they weren’t real I knew I always had characters in my books. My favorite place to this day is in any library surrounded by all my
My grandmother introduced me to reading before I’d even entered school. She babysat me while my parents were at work, and spent hours reading to me from picture books as my wide eyes drank in the colorful illustrations. As a result, I entered my first year of school with an early passion for reading. Throughout elementary and middle school, I was captivated by tales of fire-breathing dragons, mystical wizards, and spirited foreign gods. A book accompanied me nearly everywhere I went, smuggled into my backpack or tucked safely under my arm. I was often the child who sat alone at lunch, not because she didn’t have friends, but because she was more interested in a wizards’ duel than the petty dramas of middle school girls. I was the child who passed every history test because she was the only kid who didn’t mind reading the textbook in her spare time, and the child who the school librarian knew by name. Reading provided a
As a child, I have always been fond of reading books. My mother would read to me every single night before I went to bed and sometimes throughout the day. It was the most exciting time of the day when she would open the cabinet, with what seemed to be hundreds of feet tall, of endless books to choose from. When she read to me, I wanted nothing more than to read just like her. Together, we worked on reading every chance we had. Eventually I got better at reading alone and could not put a book down. Instead of playing outside with my brothers during the Summer, I would stay inside in complete silence and just read. I remember going to the library with my mom on Saturdays, and staying the entire day. I looked forward to it each and every week.
No one could ever comprehend the hatred I had for reading- no one. Reading to me was just like being deathly ill, stuck inside, watching the neighbors play and know you couldn't join. On Monday morning I sat down in my teacher Mrs. Daniels class. I had a strange feeling reading would be an assignment coming up soon. I was dreading what I knew she was going to say next. “Class you will have 4 weeks to complete this book.” As I heard these words come out of her mouth I lowered myself into my seat like a turtle slowly going into its shell. I felt as if I was drowning and no one could save me until my life was over. Not only did I hate reading but I hated it even more when I was forced to. I thought in my head, “Why. Why make us read a dumb book that will do nothing but take away my social life.” Never did I know the book I was about to read would have such an impact
If one were to look at my varied reading habits, they would be struck by the diversity and over all unusualness of my mind’s library. I hardly remember the plot of the first book I read, but it was called Lonesome Dove. It wasn’t the actual first book I read, but I don’t really count the McGregor Readers from kindergarten. I read it in first grade because of my Grandmother’s fascination in the T.V. mini-series that was playing during the time. I wanted to be able to talk to her about it so I went to the public library that weekend and picked up a copy. Well, I actually didn’t pick it up, it was too heavy. It took me over two and a half months to read, but with the help of a dictionary and my grandma, I finally read it from cover to cover. I can’t really say that I understood it, because I don’t recall what it was about. But I do remember that it was quite an ordeal. Since then I have read many books. I enjoy fiction the best, especially those that are based on society, but have a small twist that leads to an interesting story. Some of the stories that I remember best from that early time in my life are Tales from Wayside Elementary School, Hatchet, The Godfather, and The Giver. I think that Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, is the only book that I’ve read more than once. I liked the situation that Brian was put into, lost in the wilderness, with nothing more to fend for himself with than his mind and a trusty hatchet. The adversity he faces and his undying drive are what fascinated me most. Since that time my reading habits have grown into a different style. I have usually only read what was assigned to me during the school year because that was all I had time to do, but I have always strived to put forth extra effort. For example: last year for English 3 AP we had to read an excerpt from Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. Although that we only had to read a small bit, I checked the entire book from the college library and read it all. Although the way that Franklin rambled on and on about his “Franklin Planner” was somewhat boring, the way he describe his life was pure poetry.
Beginning in kindergarten, was when I first fell in love with reading and writing. When I was in kindergarten I remember bringing home a ton of books to read to my parents and one book in particular was my favorite story and that was the story, “The Corduroy Bear.” I probably read that book a hundred times because I loved it so much. I read so many books in kindergarten that, I soon became interested in writing too. In my stories I would write
I read voraciously as a child. I grew up in a college town and spent my summers in Middlebury, Vt, where my father taught summer school. That meant I was surrounded by libraries and by people who love to read and discuss literature. During the Vermont summers, one of my favorite places was Middlebury College's rare books room where I read first-edition Louisa May Alcott novels.
I had been begging my mom to take to take me to the library so I could pick out some books that I had an interest in reading. When my mom had finally found time to take me. I was bouncing up and down in my seat the whole way there clutching a piece of paper with the picture of the book I wanted that my mom helped me find on the libraries website. I remember walking in and seeing the colorful bindings on the shelves. The smell of books and the leather of the couches surrounded me, as I walked straight to the kids fantasy section. I was a girl on a mission. My eyes scanning the shelves looking for that colorful orange and blue binding I had heard so much about. When my eyes found that blue and orange binding I was looking for I ripped it from the shelves, and ran to my mom jumping up and down begging her to let me get it.I had never read a fantasy book before and I had wanted to read this book since the beginning of the school year. But my mom’s answer always had been “ When you finish your school books then you can read it.” That day in July I finally got what I had asked for, for seven months. As soon as I got home I ran upstairs and climbed up the ladder to the comfort of my bed on the top bunk. I leaned my back up against the wall, pulled my blankets over my legs, and started on the first chapter. The chapter title of The Boy Who Lived immediately grabbed my attention. As I started to read this book it was nothing like I had read before.
I also remember as young girl learning how to read and my favorite book that I could quote word for word was “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr.Suess. I loved that book so much I still have that today. As I got older my love for reading and books started to diminish, I went to a private school for my elementary years and their curriculum was very intense. It was required to read a book from their approved list and complete a book report each summer before the school year began. Not to mention the numerous books reports I would have to complete during the school. At an early age books and reading was something I had to do and not what I wanted to do.
Ever since I was a child, I've never liked reading. Every time I was told to read, I would just sleep or do something else instead. In "A Love Affair with Books" by Bernadete Piassa tells a story about her passion for reading books. Piassa demonstrates how reading books has influenced her life. Reading her story has given me a different perspective on books. It has showed me that not only are they words written on paper, they are also feelings and expressions.
Winston Churchill said, “All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.” While I have learned from my mistakes in the past, all the experiences that I have endured have made me into the person I am today. Even being a work-in-progress, I have a solid foundation, strong internal support and blueprints of the person I will become. And the day I become a complete multi-colored sculptor of experiences and hard work, I will have helped and inspired others to do the same.
Reading was never something I fussed about growing up. As a child, I loved genres of realistic fiction. I was hooked on The New Adventures of Mary Kate and Ashley, Goosebumps, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes, Judy Moody, and especially, Zoobooks and Highlights magazines. My mother was always ready to help build my reading and writing skills. She took me to the library constantly to feed my passion for books and knowledge. I loved exploring the shelfs, organizing the books, and filling up my library cart. I tried keeping a diary in elementary school to keep track of my outings with my parents and grandparents to museums, zoos, movies, and libraries. This flash of writing enthusiasm was spun from books I read in the 4th and 5th grade that were
As I reach the seemingly boring age of 19, I am able to look back and reflect on how my choices in the past have gotten me to where I am today. One of the most significant decisions I have made in my life was to minimize my friend group. Now, losing friends is something you hear about before you even hit junior high. The common phrase is repeated over and over again, when referring to high school, “You find out who your real friends are.” As a scrawny little freshman, with no sense of reality, I refused to believe that that phrase would ever apply to my life. The end of my sophomore year is when my then, sixteen-year-old self, realized that that overused phrase was more relevant to my life than I wanted it to be. So I did something about it.
Theiman, LeAnn. How to Overcome the 10 Biggest Mistakes in Decision Making. n.d. Web. 19 Feb 2014.