The subjects that I thrive in are Literature, History, and Psychology. I am such an avid reader that many who encounter me are quite surprised that reading is a subject I truly love. Since I am considered to be an African American female, many believe reading would be the last thing on my agenda. Reading helped quench my thirst for knowledge that other human beings have invented. It also helped me in the realm of creativity. To be honest, I can’t help but laugh at the fact I consider reading a subject I love. The reason why I say this is because, I used to abhor reading. Whenever given an assignment that required reading, I tried to find a way out of the assignment.
It was around the end of elementary school and the beginning of middle school that my love for reading was born. The middle school I attended always had cool prizes for those that read a certain number of books and pass the reading tests that is given on the computers. One prize I especially remember and now have right under my bed is the Dance Dance Revolution game for the PlayStation. In order to obtain this prize, I had to read over 100 books and pass every single reading test based on the books in one school year while maintaining my grades. It was hard at first, but it eventually became second-nature to me. Reading has taken me to many places and experience different types of lives as different types of people. Books have made me laugh until my stomach hurts, cry until my eyes are red, frustrated to stop reading for a while, or feel the embarrassment for a character within the story. Reading brought my curiosity of my surroundings to a whole other level. Can I tell you something I never told anyone before?
I turned to reading during elementary/middle school times when my bullying was at its worst.I was alone and ostracized by my fellow peers and was ridiculed on a daily basis. In need of friends, I checked out many books in the library, the maximum I could check out were 6.The characters in the stories I read were the ones I talked to with my laughter at funny scenes, groans at the embarrassing scenes, and tears during the sad scenes. The books were what took my tears after a day of shame and embarrassment and did not judge me for my tears. It soaked it up and opened itself to me, giving me comfort and allowing me to know that I am not alone and that I will get through this hard period of my life and I will be on the top.
My curiosity from reading flowed over to the depths of the history of American cultures and in other parts of the world. Personally I feel that learning about how the past affects the present and predicts the future helps understand why things function the way they currently do. It’s also nice knowing the variations of ethnic backgrounds that exist in our world, which makes social interactions more pleasant to be involved in. When I was little, I believed that America was the world and everybody in the planet lived here. I recall one time that someone once told me that they were from China and I actually thought China was some city in America. As I got older, and better informed, I felt guilty for my ignorance and decided to open up my mind and learn about the cultures outside of American barriers and how many things within America actually derived from somewhere else. I am grateful for the resources provided to me that enabled me to be a more open-minded and well-informed individual.
Psychology became one of my top interests after personally witnessing an incident that happened to a friend of mine. After witnessing a friend who tried to attempt suicide, I started to ask a lot of questions as to why my friend attempted such action and what I can do to help prevent it from happening again to my friend and possibly other individuals out there that I may encounter. I enrolled in the AP Psychology class that is offered at my local high school and all my questions and more, were answered.
From Sigmund Freud’s belief that behavior derives from the unconscious parts of the mind to learning the brain parts that are affected by outside factors, I have grown to have a better understanding as to what could’ve possibly caused my friend to try and take such an action against herself. Whenever I am with my friend, I give her encouragement, ask if all is well and remind her that what they share with me will remain confidential. After getting her to warm up, I found out how, as I was taught in Psychology, external personal factors drove my friend over the edge.
I convinced my friend to try some counseling to be handle to better handle such stressful situations. I also provided them with journal where she could write whatever she wanted in the book and when they are done, she can tear the pages out and burn them to remove all the bad memories she possess within her mind. This turned out to help my friend who felt as though it was the emotional medicine they needed. My friend is currently a more social and happier person who is well on their way towards success in life.
I feel as though my curiosity and desire to understand someone who was raised differently than me, has helped me save a life. I am grateful for my thirst for knowledge.
