ReaderCon Filipino Fridays #2: School of Reading

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I have one hour to catch up on last week's Filipino Friday before the linky disappears, so here goes...

This week's prompt:
School of Reading. We all started reading somewhere, and more often than not, we were influenced by someone. Who got you into reading? Your parents? A friend? A librarian? One teacher who always lends out his/her books? How helpful was your school in helping your reading habit / fueling your book addiction?
Who got me into reading? My mom. Read to me every night when I was 3 to 5 years old. At least, every night she was at home from the hospital. So, reading time was also bonding time with my mom. And then my brother, who also took over reading to me when mom was on duty at the hospital. Dad was never a big reader, but that's ok 'cause he's big with the 'rithmetic.

Was my school helpful in fueling my book addiction? That depends on which school we're talking about. To be fair, my book addiction grew with every school I went to. Perhaps not necessarily because of the school's reading programs, but because of fellow book lovers. When I was in grade school, I read my first novel for adults, which was lent to me by an older schoolmate. When I was in high school, a bunch of us got hooked on Sidney Sheldon, Judith Krantz, and Mills & Boon, among other things. And then an ex gave me my first sci-fi series, Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept. I don't think he realized what he started.

By the time I got to college, I was already too immersed in books. Which is why I ended up as an English teacher, trying to convince my students that reading is the bomb. And so my "school of reading" comes full circle.

*Filipino Fridays is a weekly meme leading up to the celebration of the 2nd Filipino ReaderCon: United We Read, to be held on August 18, at the Filipinas Heritage Library.

Comments

Anonymous said…
A good English teacher would always inspire his/her students to read, and would find plenty of ways for them to do so. Your reading history is awesome!
August 6, 2012 at 10:48 PM
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