Reflection of myself as a reader

My earliest childhood reading memories began way before I could read. Every night before bed, brother and I would cuddle with my mom on the living room couch to hear a story from our children’s encyclopedia series. We looked forward to that time together and never missed a night. As I got older, I enjoyed reading mystery books like Goosebumps or girlie stories like The Babysitters club. I always had great fluency but I struggled with reading comprehension. As I would read, my mind would wander and I’d miss the concept or meaning of the page. This posed a real problem for me academically. I would sometimes read the same chapter from a textbook two or three times just to grasp some of what was going on. Over time, I learned that I had to read in a quiet place, away from any distractions. That meant going to the public library or the local park. When reading academic material I realized I needed to summarize and make outlines for myself in order to stay focused and retain the information better. I must say though, it was a long road before I found the right reading method best for me.