Growing up I used to love to read. I read all of the Harry Potter books while I was still in elementary school and was always in the advanced reading groups in my classes (not to brag or anything.)

Reading was my favorite thing to do, but as I got older I began to do it less and less. I don’t know what exactly made me stop reading. Maybe it was the attached “nerd” stigma that went along with reading or maybe it was that I just stopped caring about books. Whatever it was, I went through most of my middle school and high school years without reading a book unless it was for a class.

Recently, I have rediscovered my love for reading and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Reading is so important and I highly recommend that everyone picks up a book every once in awhile. I know I probably sound like your first grade teacher when I say this, but reading is fun!

Reading is good for the soul, and here’s why!

1. Reading allows you to escape to another world for a little while.

In my opinion, one of the best feelings in the world is when you get so enthralled in a book that you simply cannot put it down. For the time that you are reading a good book, you are not worried about your life and your problems, you are just concerned about the characters and what will happen next. You are a part of their world, whether it be a romantic novel about a couple who lives in North Carolina or a fictional fantasy novel about a boy with magical powers.

2. When you read, you always learn something new.

Whether it be a new vocabulary word or a fact about sea turtles, reading is a way to expand your knowledge and learn something that you may have not known before.

3. You can learn a lot about yourself when you read.

Maybe you’ll come across a quote that really speaks to you, or you’ll read about someone who decides to make an invention and that inspires you to do the same. Reading is a way for you to discover new little things about yourself. Who knows? Maybe a book will be the thing that inspires you to pick a career path!

4. You can learn a lot about other people when you read.

Many people can be ignorant about other cultures and different types of people. It’s hard to understand anything that is not what you are typically used to. Reading knocks down the barriers between people and allows you to enter the world of someone who might not be like yourself. Reading is an amazing way to get a better understanding of other people, places and things that aren’t what you’re used to in your everyday life. Reading, in my opinion, makes people more open minded.

5. It’s a nice way to expand your imagination.

When you’re a little kid, everything's new and exciting. Your imagination is constantly working and you are always dreaming up new ideas. As you get older, you tend to lose that part of you. Instead of dreaming, you face reality. Reading allows you to come in touch with the daydreamer side of you. Your imagination is in full force when you read because you see an entire story in your head.

My point of all of this is that reading doesn’t have to be boring or repetitive. You can read without worrying about a pop quiz or an essay. Reading “just because” can actually be quite enjoyable, and I highly recommend that everyone does it every once in awhile because you never know what you might get out of it!