The Student News Site of Rock Bridge High School

Bearing News

The Student News Site of Rock Bridge High School

Bearing News

The Student News Site of Rock Bridge High School

Bearing News

Student’s struggle with reading teaches tenacious self-dicipline

Student%E2%80%99s+struggle+with+reading+teaches+tenacious+self-dicipline
Words, the worst enemy: Hope Smith reads as books are piled in front of her.  Feature Photo by Madi Mertz
Words, the worst enemy: Hope Smith reads as books are piled in front of her.
Feature Photo by Madi Mertz
I’ve always detested reading. Even in elementary school, I remember hating trips to the school library because the teachers always made us check out a book, which just sat on my kitchen counter until it was due.
As I got older, I would blankly stare at articles and textbooks, either forcing myself to read them or just pretending ­­­­­­–­ to avoid conflict with the teacher.
This clearly isn’t the way to go about school: not reading key material and only finishing it at home. My knowledge suffered from this habit, and I know it would hit me harder down the road with college and jobs because I simply couldn’t read.
I used to think it was just my special quirk, and it’d become less of a hassle or, even better, go away as I got older. But I was wrong; it got worse. Eventually, my reading issue became so difficult to work with that I just gave up.
When I did read that rare article in class, I never finished it, nor did I ever finish reading the assigned book in World Studies. Instead, I would end up taking it home to read aloud, alone in my bedroom.
However, I did have homework other than just finishing in-class readings. I needed a change of habit from being so furious that I ended up crying.
Changing the habit took two steps: First was catching my attention and the other was making me take action. The first step was to see my PLAN test score. I scored 89 percent better than all Americans at my level in mathematics on the PLAN test, but only scored 27 percent better than all Americans in reading. This was a problem.
I coped with the dilemma for so long, and it wasn’t easy to shrug off. At first, like I do with any bad situation, I refused to confront the issue and forgot about it instead.
The second step toward improvement was when Columbia had snow, and lots of it. Teachers played catch up to maintain a timely schedule for covering all the curriculum before the end of the school year. Every teacher shoved multiple articles at me to read during class.
When I got to my house, I had so many articles and textbooks and notes to read. I was overwhelmed. On the car ride home I told my mom that I hated school. I excel in school and never complain about it, so this was uncharacteristic.
My mom was determined to get the help I needed to boost my score and increase my reading rate. However, the school wouldn’t give me assistance because I got straight A’s last semester.
My grades prove I can be successful without extra assistance. The guidance counselor said that to qualify for the additional help, I would have to be two or more grade levels behind, and according to the STAR test taken at the beginning of the year, I comprehend everything fine, thus not being behind in reading skills.
These past months, I’ve learned that if I need help, I can only help myself. If I can stay afloat in my struggle to read, if I choose to continue the fight not to be illiterate, then I will learn more than how to decode letters. Forcing myself, I now read aloud to myself using tools like a ruler to guide the line of text I’m on, and it feels good. More than anything, though, I’m hoping that one day, I will love to read.

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