Have you ever picked up a book and escaped to another world? Reading can be an escape for people to experience another world where unimaginable things become a reality. When I asked, sixteen out of twenty Apex students said they liked to read. Even though I found out that a lot of people like to read, I know that there are still a lot of our school does not find it enjoyable.

I asked some of the people that said no why they do not like reading. Sophomore Corinne Forsberg said, “I used to enjoy reading, but English classes assigning certain books and testing us on them has sucked the fun out of reading.” When students are forced to read certain books in class, it becomes less enjoyable because they cannot choose something they like.

At the same time, most English teachers at Apex have designated a free read time in class. During this time in class students get to pick a book they enjoy and spend class time reading. I feel like adding this time to classes helps to remind students that reading can be enjoyable even if they might not like all books that they have to read.

Reading can be fun, and more people like to read than we realize. The biggest problem for students is when we are taught that there are a lot of steps we have to take while reading, then the thought that reading is hard embeds itself in our minds, and we do not think it is fun anymore, we think that it is work. Luckily when I asked most Apex High students still enjoy picking up a book every once and awhile.