When you’re a college student, books sometimes become the enemy. Sure, you love to read. I do too. But we’ve all been to the point where we’re staring down a novel that we’re trying to write an essay on at two in the morning the day the essay is due, wishing the book had never been written. Don’t deny it. And I’ll be honest, it can really suck to have to read something you don’t like. Heck, it can even suck to be asked to read a book you love faster than you want to (which is the main reason why to this day I’m not a fan of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). And the thing is, when you’re a college student, regardless of your major, you tend to get asked to read a lot.
I’m an English major. I love reading. In high school, I’d read between classes and at the lunch table. I’d read ahead in my English class books. I was even president of the Book Club. When I came to college, all of that stopped. It was a whole new world here. Time was so structured in high school, and I always found a way to get my own pleasure reading in. Once I got to Kenyon, it was so easy to forget about it. I’d do homework into the late hours of the night and pass out when I was done. That pleasure book I had started at the beginning of the year gathered dust on my shelf. I’d pick it up every once and a while, but then I’d remember this cool thing I had been hoping to go to or an assignment that I hadn’t finished. Back to the shelf it went. I went from reading a book a week to taking ages to finish a chapter, and I hated it.
At least I’ll have time to read over the summer, I thought. Those warm weeks of vacation always gave me the time to power through books with abandon. Over this past summer, I got a job as a sleep away camp counselor. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget, but it was a job in which I had virtually no down time. Yet again, I found myself pushing whatever book I was reading aside in favor of rest or spending time with the other counselors with whom I worked.
From January to August, I read a grand total of three books for fun.
Going into this school year, I decided enough was enough. I packed a box of books from my to-read pile, deciding to make the conscious effort to read for fun at least a little bit every week. I made the effort to turn off my computer earlier, resisting the pull of one more episode on Netflix and one last scroll through my social media feeds. I timed my evenings so I finished my homework before the wee hours of the morning most days, too. And wouldn’t you know, it worked. Since starting school on the last week of August, I have read five books for myself.
One of the coolest things about it was that I found myself sleeping better. By now most people know that using a device with a backlight (so phones and laptops and what have you) right before bed messes up your sleeping pattern. If I don’t make myself turn off my laptop at a reasonable hour, I use it right up until it was time to sleep, and I toss and turn for what felt like ages. When I started reading more, I fell asleep faster and felt better and more rested when I woke up.
Also, sometimes it’s really important to unplug. Don’t get me wrong, I love the wonders of the internet and people who constantly bash technology in favor of “a simpler time” get on my nerves to no end. But in my first year of college, all I did in my free time was homework, text or scroll through social media on my phone, or sit in bed and watch Netflix. It’s good to break up your daily routine, and it’s good to step away from the world of college and school for a little while. I know, it’s hard to pick up another book when you’ve been slaving away over a Victorian novel that’s total gibberish to you, but it kindles (do you see the pun???) your imagination to slip effortlessly into somebody else’s world for a little while. At least it does for me.
So I’m not saying throw out you laptop and your social life to make way for pleasure reading, but think about making some time for it in your busy schedule. I’m so glad I did.
Image Credit: Work Week Woes, Why To Read