3 Ways to READ In College
As a high school student you approached reading assignments with drudgery and resistance. High school taught you how to hate reading. Teachers would assign reading, and you would be forced to do it or else suffer the consequences. Instead of actually reading your books, you probably consulted spark notes for the information that you would surely be tested on.
In college you will have to read just as much, or more, than when you were in high school. Fortunately, at the college level you are able to choose your classes, and in that respect, you have control over what you are “forced” to read. However, you shouldn’t view reading as a chore. In college you should begin to cultivate a love for reading.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
As one of my Professors once told me, “You might as well read for fun now. When you get out of school your job won’t let you, and that’s when you’ll discover reading is fun.”
Reading exercises your brain and nourishes the intellect. It doesn’t matter if it’s a book, a magazine, a newspaper, or a journal. What’s important is that you learn to love reading, and you read something every day.
People who read are interesting, they’re funny, and they’re always informed. People who read are statistically proven to be more successful than those who don’t.
As college students you need to realize that reading isn’t the enemy. Below are three different ways you can spend your time reading. Each one has its own unique benefits.
NEWSPAPERS
- It keeps you informed about the world you live in.
- Gives you a great way to start conversations, and add spice to ones you’re in already.
- Makes you look smart – probably because you are
MAGAZINES
Magazines are great because they are often dedicated to a certain subject or realm. They provides specialized knowledge on a topic that you may be interested in. Whether you enjoy architecture, celebrity gossip, writing, astronomy, or something as obscure as sock monkey collecting; it’s almost guaranteed that there is a magazine dedicated to it.
If you can buy magazines that supplement your major you should absolutely subscribe to a couple. For example, if you are a business student you should subscribe to Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, or a host of others.
Magazines are also a fantastic way to read because they take up very little space, and are partitioned into nuggets of quick reading articles. If you find that you tend to be too busy to sit down and fumble through a loose newspaper, magazines are a great alternative because they can be pulled out and read anytime you find yourself with a spare moment.
Magazines can help you in several ways:
- Provide in depth information on one or several subjects.
- Serve as a lens to the world we live in.
- Make it easier to bring up current events with teachers.
- Kill time between classes, or even during bathroom breaks.
RESOURCES:
ONLINE MEDIA
Chances are you frequent quite a few sites, but wouldn’t it be great if you could get all that content in one place? With Google reader you can subscribe to your favorite site, specific content, or individual articles through the use of RSS. This is a great way to get news catered to your individual tastes every morning when you wake up. It’s like your own personal newspaper. Below you can check out Google reader, and a couple of other websites that make it easy to aggregate all of you online media addictions.
RESOURCES:
BOOKS
Books develop your writing skills, and lead your imagination on a wild goose chase. Watching a movie is fun, but reading a book can be far more rewarding because your senses aren’t encapsulated only to what some unknown director wants you to experience. It doesn’t matter if it is fiction or non-fiction. Both varieties will benefit you in countless ways.
You learn to write from reading books. This is an undisputable fact of life, and any English professor will support that statement. Reading books often develops your vocabulary, increases your reading comprehension skills, and increases your ability to communicate. Below are a couple places you can find free books to read.
RESOURCES:
These are all ways that you can read in college, and hopefully some of these resources will help you read more. If you have any resources you would like to share with people please leave a comment below with a link. Remember, probably the easiest way to start reading more in college is just to go to your school’s LIBRARY!
