Reading books is said to be good for brain expansion; but school work can take away from recreational reading time. Balancing of school work and relaxing with a book can be hard to be keep up with for some and because of this many can tend to neglect reading for fun.

Nina DeQuardo, a junior at AHS, says, “I read outside of school every day unless I work. I think reading opens your mind to more problems in society than reading about problems in a textbook does.”

Jasmine Case, a senior at AHS, says, “I believe that I learn more from experiencing conversations in a classroom because being interact and discuss different ideas is more beneficial to me, rather than trying to learn by myself.”

Many students at AHS are involved in athletics and clubs. Students may also be involved in other out of school programs. All of these things can easily add up and take away from personal reading time.

During personal time is when some students relax and read a book, but with a job, schoolwork and other activities, life can become a bit overwhelming. However, some students find ways to incorporate friendship and reading by discussing books.

Case says, “A lot of my friend enjoy reading as much as I do, so it is a good conversation starter. When we read the same books, we sit around and converse about ideas from the book that we found interesting. This is a great way for us to bond and grow as friends. Sometimes we’ll share favorite characters too which is always fun. I’ve been reading the Divergent series as of late.”

Reading can lead to finding out new things. From reading so often, some students have found they would like to have a career that has to do with reading/writing.

DeQuardo says, “I think that one day I would love to spend some time working in a library part-time but nothing beyond that because although I really enjoy books, I can’t write or edit very well.”

Case says, “Being a publisher has always been a dream of mine. I got the desire for that career because of how often I am reading. After I got super into reading, I looked into some careers and being a publisher really stood out to me because it involves some of my favorite things: reading, editing and grammar. I hope that career path works for me down the road.”