About Me
Hello. I am Zack, 許哲瑋 in Chinese. I am now a sophomore in Applied Foreign Languages.
To me, the English language is like a chain that connects the world, and that’s why I learn this language. I get to know what’s happening in this world first-hand, thinking from a different angle of the language from the other side of the world. (And also, there are no other things that I’m good at.)
However, I mostly put my emphasis on the human interaction side of the English language which to me is listening and speaking. That’s why I don’t see myself as a reader (or a writer). I can even say I “hated” reading. Sitting there for hours staring at words that are not alive, having to picture the settings myself, and winding up getting more confused. I would rather spend those time on Netflix or browsing memes to relax myself. I just didn’t see the point of reading, until last summer.
I was told by a tutor that successful people read a lot and that through books, I could absorb knowledge, culture, and wisdom in a way that I had never experienced. So, I decided to give it a shot and bought some books from Amazon based on that tutor’s recommendation. “Will I enjoy this? Maybe it’d be more worth it to spend the time watching Netflix instead of getting in the boring words. It’s my vacation! Why would I spend it on what I don’t like?”
I started out on the first book “As a Man Thinketh.”
I had always been the kind of person who thinks “I can’t do it” or “I don’t deserve her. She’s out of my league,” but after reading this book, I implemented the thoughts and values I got from the book, which was “how we think makes what we are.” I started to tell myself “Today will be a good day, and I can achieve anything I want.” Everything went smoothly on days that I told myself that. Maybe it was just my subconsciousness telling me to focus on the good things, but how I thought really made what I was. At the end of the summer vacation, I was offered a job as a teacher’s assistant which I feared failing at first. I told myself again and again that I can do it, and I found I was able to summon the courage that I thought I didn’t have. That was when I realized what impact a book can bring to a person.
Even though now, I still don’t like reading, I have found the meaning of it and won’t reject it as I did before.
Who is that great tutor? XDDD! Liking something requires time, but hating something just happens because of some momentary, little displeasure. It's ok. At least you have applied what you gained from that book to your life. I am not going to make you "like" or "love" reading in such a short period of time. It's not my job, but it's my responsibility to give you the chance to "experience" the freedom of selection and expression, no matter how much or how little.
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