# data[].attributes.body
Although reading books never seemed to be my niche, it did inspire me to write my own literature, which I would rather do any day than read. I loved seeing new uses of words and phrases, which I absorbed very quickly. I would love to be a published author one day. Reading has not only inspired me but has gotten me where I am today academically. I regret that I did not read more in my youth, but I am going to put forth more effort as a future teacher to love reading so my students will not make the same mistake. I want my students to love reading and see the importance in it, unlike I did. I believe reading unleashed my imagination like nothing else. Especially when my mother read to me as a young child. My mind would run free as she read stories to me. To this day, I have a very wild imagination and I believe most definitely that is what gives me a love for writing; it allows me to embrace my imagination. All of my reading experiences have made me into the person I am. I have learned compassion, kindness, adventure, and so much more through reading. Without reading, I wouldn't have known what the Bible said. Reading the Bible has also made me who I am today. I base my decisions off of what the Bible says and try to shape my character around it. Although reading has never been my favorite pastime, it has definitely led me to where I am and I hope to use and create literature in a way that inspires my future students to be the best person they can be one day.

# data[].attributes.body
My brother, Adam, is three years older than me, so he was reading books for school before I ever thought about it. He went to public school for three years and always brought home books that he and my mom would read to me. My favorite part of the day was after supper when we all would sit in the living room floor and dump the books out of Adam's backpack. I was always so jealous that he got to read books for school. Who would have thought that reading ended up being a pain for me? Besides the fact that my brother had to read books for school, my mom took us to the library every single week to pick out books. I loved filling up the tan cloth bag with books from the library. It was my absolute favorite place to go because there was a dragon chair and a train that went around the room. To this day, I love libraries; I just don't care for reading that much. One of my favorite books from the library was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We checked out that book more than anyone else probably. It came with a cassette tape that we listened to when my mom read it and that is one of my favorite childhood memories.

# data[].attributes.body
When I was in the fifth grade, I had to read Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan for a book report. Although I remember it being a struggle to read it all, this book taught me what it means to be a Christian and obstacles we may face in our walk with God. It caused me to think because most of the messages were hidden through metaphorical situations. I believe this book helped me mature as a Christian and taught me the importance of living for God and trusting in Him to lead us through life. To this day, I think of that book and how the main character, Christian, faced his battles.

# data[].attributes.body
Recently, I had to read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs for a history class. I learned about slavery throughout grade school and even more in college, but I never truly realized how slaves suffered until I read this powerful memoir. While reading this, I started to realize why African Americans were/are so passionate about Civil Rights. This book also opened my eyes to see how blessed I truly am. After reading this story, I began to think differently about racism and inequality. It revealed some hidden bias I had not yet seen about the South that I know as home. Throughout the book, Jacobs speaks frequently of her faith in God which impacted my faith as well. No matter what terrible situation Jacobs found herself in, she never ceased to believe that God would get her through it which really spoke to me as a Christian.

# data[].attributes.body
As I mentioned earlier, The Hunger Games was the first book I really became interested in. After reading the series, my eyes were opened to how different everyone's lives can be. Although these books were fiction, they depicted human struggle in a way that I had never thought of before because I had never had to face some of the hardships the characters in the book faced. They made me feel more thankful for my family and treasure them. They also taught me the importance of putting others first and sacrificing things for people we love.

# data[].attributes.body
I do not read very often unless I have to read something for one of my classes. I usually do not read for fun. Last semester, I was required to read two books for my history class because we had to write papers about them. I only ended reading one of them. The only times I remember reading for fun was when I read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. When I was a teenager, I went through this stage of trying to like reading because every other teenage girl I knew liked it. Once again, this failed. My mother still reads for fun and tells me how great it is but I usually say, "I'll just watch the movie."

# data[].attributes.body
Once again, throughout school, literature was my least favorite subject. Every time I had to read a book I complained the whole time. Over the years, I have realized that even though I can read very well, I lack in comprehension skills. That could be a reason I try to avoid reading. Unless I am very interested, I have to read the same page a couple of times before understanding. Usually, when I read I get side-tracked easily and end up day dreaming. I remember throughout school always day dreaming in the middle of everything I had to read, whether it be my science book or a literature book. The first book I had to read in high school was Hamlet by William Shakespeare and even though I tried reading it for a little while, I ended up reading Cliff Notes on the rest of the book. Even now, in my third year of college, I have a hard time comprehending what I read. I am more committed to my college work, so I try very hard to comprehend but it still poses itself as a challenge.

# data[].attributes.body
To be honest, I have never enjoyed reading. As far back as I can remember, reading has been a drudgery for me. When I ask myself, "Why?" nothing seems to be clear. My mother always encouraged me to read. She read to my brother and I all the time. One of my favorite books she read to us was Corduroy by Don Freeman. I was homeschooled and my mother taught me how to read well. Because she loved reading, I tried to make myself love reading also but it never worked. I never became interested until high school when The Hunger Games books became popular. After seeing the first movie, I immediately looked up the books online and downloaded them to my iPod. I read the entire trilogy in three days. Because I enjoyed reading these books so much, I thought about reading something else but I never found anything I could finish. However, although books never seemed to tickle my fancy, I adored poetry. Throughout school, I had to memorize poems that were in the back of my spelling books and I loved it. I also developed a love for writing poetry and have written them ever since. One of my favorite poems is "When the Frost is on the Punkin" by James Whitcomb Riley. I loved his use of words in this poem and how they all seemed to blend together.