by Maya Koeppen ‘17

After spending 12 years in the public education system, I have learned quite a few things about myself and the world around me. But probably one of the most important would have to be: read the book. Be it an assigned novel in your English class or some supplementary reading for your AP class, whatever you do, just read it. I know I probably sound like every teacher you have ever had, but hear me out. While I can completely relate to the struggle of having to read pages upon pages of reading on an almost nightly basis, I have come to the conclusion that it is, in the end, definitely worth it.

And by worth it, I do not just mean grade-wise. If you are reading simply to get an A on the next quiz, then you are missing out. Reading should be about truly absorbing information and expanding the horizon of one’s knowledge. You miss out on so much when you make the decision to not read and even worse, when you decide to Sparknote it instead. In the long run, you are only hurting yourself. In addition to this, your grade ends up suffering tremendously as well. So if you don’t plan on doing the assigned reading for the class, save both yourself and your teacher the trouble and just don’t bother taking the class to begin with.