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How have all of your experiences with reading helped you get to where you are today? 

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How have all of your experiences with reading helped you get to where you are today? 

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I believe that reading has had a profound impact on my life. My textual lineage has helped shape me into the person I am today. Reading has taught me the joy one can find in escaping reality and getting sucked into a good book. Books have allowed me to escape to mystical worlds and embark on magnificent adventures. Reading about different characters has taught me to look at different perspectives, and how to empathize with what others may be going through. Reading has helped me to make friends, as I have learned that the fastest way to make a friend is to find someone who is reading a book you have already read and loved. Reading has helped to broaden my vocabulary, and has helped to develop my predictive skills, as I love to theorize on what may happen next in a book or series. Reading has taught me numerous lessons, as I believe that each book leaves a mark on the reader and offers a lesson for the reader to take to heart. Books have taught me that there is an inner hero in all of us, just maybe not in the way you think, that is waiting to be unleashed. Reading has taught me to believe in myself and to be confident and strong. Reading has helped me to believe in myself, it has taught me some valuable life lessons that I carry with me to this day, and it has allowed me to connect to people I never thought I would have anything in common with. Reading has even had an impact in my decision to become a teacher as I hope to share and foster a love for reading in my students that I have experienced in my own life. I believe that the right book can have to power to impact and change a person's life forever, and I believe each book offers something for the reader to learn. Reading has helped make me the person I am today, and I am so glad that I had a mother who helped show me that you don't have to go far to travel to different worlds, places, and time.

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Books that impacted your life (taught you something important, made you love reading, etc.) 

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Books that impacted your life (taught you something important, made you love reading, etc.) 

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Another book series that impacted and changed my life was The Hunger Games series. The Hunger Games was the first series that featured a strong heroine that I instantly feel in love with. I read The Hunger Games when I was in seventh grade and the moment I read it, I instantly feel in love with the book. In fact, I read the entire book in one day because I could not put it down. The main character in the book, Katniss Everdeen, instantly became my favorite female character in a book that I had ever read. I had read other books in my life that featured strong female characters, but Katniss was the first strong female character I remember reading about who was the main character and heroine of the book. Katniss was such an inspiration and role model for me as she was this strong female character who stood up for her family. Katniss was the first female character in a book that showed me that girls can be strong and can save the day. In fact, Katniss saves the boy in this book at one point. Katniss was a true inspiration to me and she was the first female heroine I remember reading about that inspired me to be strong and believe in myself.

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The Hunger Games Official Trailer 2012 HD

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Books that impacted your life (taught you something important, made you love reading, etc.) 

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Books that impacted your life (taught you something important, made you love reading, etc.) 

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I remember the first book series that I "fangirled" over was the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I was introduced to Rick Riordan's The Lightening Thief in fourth grade and I absolutely loved it. Although I had really enjoyed reading for years up to that point, this is the first book I remember getting hyped up about. It was also the first book series I had read where I had to wait for the next book to come out, since it had not been written yet. I remember absolutely loving The Lightening Thief as I had never read anything like it before. I also remember that it was the first book that I could talk to others my age about. All of my friends in school really did not enjoy reading, so the only person I felt like I could share my books with was my mom. With The Lightening Thief, however, I finally had a book I could talk with my friends about. In fact, it was one of my friends who recommended the book to me. I remember that all of my friends in school got so excited about the book that we wanted to find out more about Greek mythology, as the book was based on old Greek myths. I remember going with my friends to check out more books about Greek mythology and tales from the library, and I remember hosting meetings on the playground where we would all talk about the book and information we had found out about Greek mythology. I recall playing games on the playground as well where we would pretend to be the characters in the book, and would act out our favorite scenes from the book. The Lightening Thief was a book that helped strengthen my love for reading, and it was the first book that I could share with my friends. The Lightening Thief showed me how much fun it is to talk about books with other people, and it showed me how one book can have the power to impact numerous lives, as my friends suddenly discovered the joy in reading.

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When I look back at my childhood, I realize just how much of my time was spent lost in a book. As mentioned before, some of my fondest memories as a child involved sitting down and reading books one chapter at a time with my mother. Other fond reading memories I have, is spending summer days completely lost in a book. I remember spending much of my time in the summer at a farm. My older brother had a job picking blackberries and other various fruits and vegetables during the summer at a local farm. For various legal and safety reasons, I was not allowed to work in the fields with my brother, so I had to sit up at the store while my brother worked in the fields. Sitting at the store could get very boring, so I always brought a book along. Getting to sit in the sun and read a great book for hours on end was how I remembered most of my summers, and, for me, books were my escape from the mundane world I lived in. Another fond memory I have, is reading books outside on a blanket in my backyard. I love spending time outdoors, so when the weather got nice I always remember dragging an old towel out into my back yard, spreading the towel out in the cool grass under a shade tree, and popping open a good book that I would read for hours on end. I would often bring pink lemonade out with me to sip on while I read as well. My last fond childhood reading memory that I wish to share took place at school. In fourth grade, our school hosted a drop everything and read day. On that day we all got to dress up as our favorite book characters, and we got to bring our favorite books to school to read. We were allowed to bring blankets and pillows and all we did that day at school was read. That whole day was dedicated to reading, and it was one of my favorite days I had at school that year. My childhood is saturated with fond memories filled with reading, and I am so grateful that I had a wonderful mother who helped to foster a love for reading in me. Reading has been my escape through the years, and I am so excited to introduce my love of reading to my class one day.

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How often do you read? Do you only read for school, or do you also enjoy reading for fun? 

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How often do you read? Do you only read for school, or do you also enjoy reading for fun? 

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When I was in public school I would have said that I read every single day. Now that I am in college, I tend to not be able to read as much as I used to. I try to read every chance that I get, but being in college and having had a part time job has really taken up a great deal of my time. For the past year, I have only been able to read for school, but I actually enjoy reading in my free time. In fact, my favorite author is Sarah J. Maas and I have purchased a great deal of her books. I always make time to try to read her latest books, but I mainly only read for school now days because I am too busy working, going to school, doing homework, etc. to get to read. Whenever we have breaks from school, however, I always take time to catch up on some of the reading I have missed out on due to my busy schedule. Hopefully, I will get the time this semester to read some more during my free time.

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What sticks out to you about your reading experiences in school?

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What sticks out to you about your reading experiences in school?

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As stated before, I have always enjoyed reading books, but my experience with reading in school has not always been an enjoyable or positive one. What sticks out to me about my reading experiences in school is how much school made me dislike reading. Particularly, I remember hating reading in third grade as the teacher forced us to read books that I did not enjoy at all. I tend to enjoy getting to read books, until I am told what I have to read. Often times the books my teachers chose for the class to read were very boring, in my opinion, and did not interest me at all. Reading in school has always seemed like a chore to me, as I just want to read the books that I find interesting. My favorite and enjoyable reading experiences in school were when my teachers let me choose what book I could read. My favorite teachers were the ones who would tell us what genre of book to read, but they would let us pick out the book we wanted. For instance, I remember in eighth grade we had to read so many books from each genre by the end of the year. The teacher gave us a chart to fill out with all of the genres we had to read. Even though I knew I would have to pick a genre that I did not particularly enjoy, such as biographies, I was able to pick a book that interested me. Whenever I was able to choose what books I could read, I enjoyed reading in school, but when teachers told me what books I had to read I came to dislike reading.

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What is your attitude toward reading? Why? Identify people or experiences that caused you to either enjoy or dislike reading. Identify significant events in your life that impacted your reading. 

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What is your attitude toward reading? Why? Identify people or experiences that caused you to either enjoy or dislike reading. Identify significant events in your life that impacted your reading. 

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I tend to have a very positive and optimistic attitude towards reading. I have enjoyed reading books since I was in fourth grade. Often times in middle school, I would get in trouble for not paying attention in class because I was too busy reading about the latest adventure in my newly checked out book from the library. I believe that my positive attitude towards reading originates from the fact that I really love to read books. To me, books are an opportunity to escape this world and read about an exciting adventure someone is on, and I truly believe that there is no feeling like getting sucked into a good book. My favorite genre to read has always been fantasy, as I love to be swept away into a fantastical world full of adventures and mysterious creatures; however, you could convince me to read historical fiction or realistic fiction as well, as long as the plot sounds intriguing. My mother was the person who really instilled a love for reading in me. Some of my fondest memories as a child includes sitting down with my mom and reading a book. I can still remember sitting down in second grade and reading The Little House on the Prairie books with my mom as we took turns reading a chapter aloud to each other. My mother also wanted to make sure that I became a strong reader, so during the summer she would take me to the library and let me pick out any book that I wanted. Each day while she was at work, I had to read so many pages in my book before I was allowed to turn the TV on. Considering that my mom made me read a little each day, I quickly was able to learn what genre and types of stories I liked best. Once I found out what genres and stories I enjoyed, I was able to find books that I love. Once I had found books that I loved and enjoyed, reading no longer became a chore that my mother left me to do for a day, but it quickly became an activity that I truly loved to do. As I have grown older, I have still kept up my joy for reading, although I am not able to read as many books as I used to when I was younger. I hope to foster that same joy of reading in my students some day as I truly believe that the right book can change someone's life.