Blog Post #4

My mother has always been a "literary sponsor" to me. An avid reader, my mom passes most of her free time reading. She never watches television, and growing up this greatly influenced my love of literature. As a child, I did not feel as though television was ever encouraged. My role model never watched it, so I just did not view it as a legitimate way to pass the time. My mother set an example for me, so as soon as I was able I wanted to spend my free time reading as well. My mother greatly encouraged this. She helped me learn to read, she helped me with difficult words, and she passed along her books to me. This filled me with a sense of pride and made me feel loved. I have always associated those feelings with literature, and I believe that is what has made me love literature as I do today. My mother always told me that reading fosters intelligence and creativity. I think this is what contributed to me being such a focused reader. When I start a good book, I do not put it down and I cannot be distracted. I treat the book as work that needs to be completed, even though I find it enjoyable. I believe that this focus comes from my mother telling me that reading frequently would make me smarter. My mother never pushed me to read. Reading was definitely encouraged, but not forcibly. She was proud of how advanced my reading skills were at a young age, and we always had conversations that I felt were special because they regarded books that my other siblings had not yet read. I think that this mild encouragement fostered a love of literature in me, and her continued support as I've grown older have done nothing but further cultivate this love.