One of my resolutions for 2018 is to read the news every day. Now at just over a month in, I am looking back pleasantly surprised at all I have learned so far. Here are five reasons why I have decided to start reading the news every day, and why you should too:

1. To be informed.

On a daily basis, you may hear your friends, co-workers, family members, teachers, classmates or other people in your daily lives discussing what is all happening in today’s world. By reading the news every day, you don’t have to just sit back and listen to these conversations, but you can actually be a part of them. I have noticed that since starting my new goal of reading the news every day, I have actually been the one to start the conversations with people in my sphere of influence and inform them about current happenings, and that’s a pretty cool feeling.

2. It’s easy and accessible.

You can access the news through something already sitting in the palm of your hand many hours of the day: your smartphone. The news app on my iPhone has become my main source of information, as well as other free news apps like The Guardian and NPR News. The news is as easy to access as social media. So, next time you have five minutes to be scrolling through Facebook, why don’t you try scrolling through the news instead?

3. To gain new knowledge.

I was never interested in politics because I thought they were too complicated, and I didn’t like how people argued about them. But, after now reading the news every day, I have become much more comfortable talking about politics, and actually, find them quite interesting. It is building my knowledge base and helping me to establish my own opinions.

4. To find new passions.

Once you start reading the news every day, you will notice yourself drawn to certain articles and issues. You will find yourself wanting to read more about certain topics and tell others about them. These new passions can drive you to use your skills to help contribute to causes that are helping solve today’s most challenging issues.

5. To be an active, global citizen.

Reading the news will get you outside of the bubble of your own needs and to-do list, something that we all get caught up in every day. It will help you to appreciate new perspectives, and be able to better understand another person’s situation. Something that is very important to me is interacting with and getting to know people that have different opinions and come from different backgrounds than myself, and reading the news every day has helped me to be equipped to do this.

There are so many things screaming for our attention every day, so much out there to learn, and so little time in a single day. We can’t possibly read or become experts in everything, but I believe each and every one of us can carve out some time in our busy days to at least scan the daily headlines. Let us be the generation full of informed and knowledgeable citizens, with passions to help make a difference in this complicated world. Will you join me?