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Toddler Era
My mother would read bedtime stories to me, I remember they were always in Spanish. I also remember hearing her read her Bible (also in Spanish), and I would recite prayers with her. The Bible looked intimidating as a child, lots of words that I had no idea how to decipher, but since I would see my mom read it all the time, it encouraged me to want to learn how to read that way I could join her. -
5-6
My older brother, Christopher, (2.5 years older than me) often read things aloud and pointed them out, such as street names, street signs, and stores around town or landmarks. He taught me how to read street signs when we would walk to the park, and that is when I realized that reading was important to find my way back home. My brother has influenced my reading journey more than he will ever know. -
6-8
My mother started taking my brother and me to the public library in town, they had a reading program for kids, the more books you checked out and read, the more prizes you would win. I would pick out 8-10 books, mostly picture books, encyclopedias about animals, and how-to-draw books. I began to focus my reading on certain interests, which shaped who I am because I still find encyclopedias about wildlife to be interesting. I also have books about color theory & painting/drawing techniques now. -
My First Encyclopedia
My parents bought me an encyclopedia about wild animals, I still have the book and reading it makes me feel nostalgic. The book is in Spanish, so it helped with my fluency in Spanish. I would constantly read it and tell my parents random facts that I learned. I loved this encyclopedia. I started to take note of animals' names and look them up at the library or on the computer to learn more about them. This book changed my life. -
Geronimo Stilton Era
At the end of 5th grade, my teacher noticed that I would constantly ask her to borrow Geronimo Stilton books, since it was her last year teaching at that school, she let me pick out a few books to take home. I loved these books, they made reading fun with all the images, and the crazy font, it was perfect for me. I am forever grateful to my teacher for giving me so many books. My favorite was the Kingdom of Fantasy, which I convinced my mom to buy at a book fair. -
Gameboy/DS/Wii Era
My parents bought video games for my brother and I, in many of these games, I would have to read the tutorials to know how to play and know what the characters were saying. I remember watching my brother play his games on PS3, these games had story modes, where the characters would speak and the dialogue shows up in closed captions, it helped me learn new words as I followed along and watched the story unfold. If I did not understand something, my brother usually clarified things for me. -
First Family Computer/Lyric Learning Era
My parents bought a computer and my brother, and I would play games on it. There was one game we played about "Carmen Sandiego," there was a lot of reading involved the game and when operating the computer in general, we had to comprehend the language being presented on the screen and what certain functions meant. I also used the computer to look up lyric videos on YouTube and study the lyrics until I could recite them without having a reference. This influenced my reading abilities for sure. -
Classical Literature Era
I started to read the classics after middle school. I was fascinated with how powerful the language was, how vivid the scenes were, and how the authors managed to create a whole world in my head. Some of my favorites were Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut and Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, I liked dissecting what the authors' purpose was and how these ideas are relevant in today's society. I reread these books in high school and had a different interpretation, I understood a lot more. -
Poetry
I started to read more poetry and began writing poems; they were inspired by the events in my day or the emotions/thoughts I was having. I relied heavily on literature to cope with a lot of things I was going through in my personal life. -
Philosophy Era
I began to research and read about different philosophers, one that really caught my attention was Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, whose work focused on Christian philosophy, morality, ethics, and psychology. Reading became something that I enjoyed doing in my free time, I wanted to read more about these topics. I still like to read about different philosophers and how their work inspired others or how these concepts can be applied to the modern world.