Column: Reading has lost its appeal

Ever since I was a wee child, I have loved to read more than anything else in the world. To me, no other hobby could compare.

I loved cracking open a book and transporting myself into a world different from my own, a world with its own interesting people, characteristics and conflicts.

I remember my weekly trips to my local library where I would pick out as many books as possible. I would spend the rest of the week with my nose stuck in whatever books I was reading at the time, reading them back-to-back until I finished all of them.

Then I would return those books to the library at the end of the week and do the whole process all over again.

Now, I can’t even get myself to focus on a book for longer than a few pages without getting bored, impatient or distracted.

We all know the obvious reason for that one: my attention span, like many other people’s, has gotten increasingly shorter over the years.

It’s so much easier to binge-watch my favorite series or mindlessly scroll through the same five apps every day, so I don’t make time to read anymore.

The other reason, I suspect, is because reading has lost what made it fun. As a student majoring in English, I have to read. All. The. Time.

Having to read and analyze books for my classes has made it harder for me to enjoy reading. Everything I read is attached to some deadline or some assignment, so reading has become this stressor for me.

Reading is no longer fun; it’s a chore. So why would I want to read more than I already have to?

I would rather do something other than reading so I can give myself a mental break. Something that doesn’t require as much brainpower.

Then I end up binge-watching my favorite series or mindlessly scrolling through the same five apps every day.

It’s so disappointing to come to terms with the fact that I don’t enjoy reading as much as I used to. I want to change that.

I think one of my goals for this year will be to set time aside to read more. My goal will be that by this time next year, I will have read at least five books just for me. Not for school or work but because I want to.

Then hopefully sometime soon, reading will be as fun as it was when I was a wee child.

 

Kyara Morales-Rodriguez is a junior English major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].