The Benefits of Reading | Ella Lee | TEDxYouth@MBJH

Reading, some people hear this word and think, uh, boring, nope, I am not interested.

Some people hear this word and think, ah, wonderful, I'm going to cozy up with a book and read all night.

Some people hear this word and think, uh, school, an assigned reading, and summer reading, and papers, and essays, and classes, and teachers, and uh.

But when I hear this word, I think of the thing I look forward to the most throughout my entire day.

I can't tell you the amount of times I've come to school super groggy because I was up way too late the night before saying, just one more chapter and you'll go to bed, just one more chapter and you'll go to bed, just one more chapter.

Yeah, I say that about five times a night.

But I don't just like reading because of the stories, I love reading because of the things it has done for my life.

Reading challenges your point of view.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch told Scout, you never really understand a person until you consider things from his or her point of view, until you climb into their skin and crawl around in it.

Reading can help you practice this, reading has allowed me to consider things from other people's point of view all the time.

Catherine Stockett's novel The Help is one of the most powerful books I've ever read.

But there's this gut-wrenching moment in the book that affected me deeply.

Aibileen, the black housemaid to the Leefolt family, is told by her employers that she is not allowed to use the restroom inside the home, instead, she was forced to use the restroom constructed in the garage for the help, hence the title.

Aibileen was sad, angry, disappointed, and alone, and because I felt so deeply for this character, it felt like I just watched one of the most important people in my life being told that she was less than, and it broke my heart.

These stories are so important.

Because it allows us to walk through the character's journey, it gives us perspective.

It helps us learn what happens and about people's emotions and not just facts about their life.

By reading, you develop empathy and a deeper understanding of the world around you.

My aunt has four children, two of white skin and two of brown skin.

I love my cousins equally and the color of their skin, white or brown, has never affected that.

But by reading The Help and learning about Aibileen's journey, it pushed me to think about the challenges that my cousins may face just because of the color of their skin.

Reading opens your eyes to different cultures.

In the book, A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, I learned so much about Cuba's culture.

And what's funny is it's about a girl who lives in Florida with Cuban parents who's visiting in London.

And even as she's walking on the old cobblestone streets in the rain next to Big Ben, sipping tea, I still learned so much about Cuba's culture through her memories, her likes, and her love for cooking traditional Cuban food.

Reading can allow you to look at things from other people's point of view and learn about their cultures than say, I don't think a web search could do.

Reading creates opportunities.

We all want to experience new things, right?

Some may do this by reaching out to the people around you.

Joining clubs or doing community service.

But not only do you get to experience new things, but you are almost guaranteed a better educational career.

By reading, you're guaranteed better classroom grades, better vocabulary, better and better community skills.

An article from the Elite Educational Institute states that people who read more are more likely to have are more likely to have better classroom grades and get better SAT scores.

Reading opens up more doors for you in the future.

A quote from Albert Einstein says that if you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.

If you want your children to be more intelligent, read them fairy tales.

Even one of the smartest minds in the history of our world agrees that not only is reading fun and enjoyable, but it's educational and promotes learning.

Reading expands your comfort zone.

Beatrice Prior is the heroine of the Divergent trilogy, and pretty early on in the books, we realize that she is an introvert.

But throughout the series, she made lifelong friends and learned more about herself than she by jumping into a new opportunity and not caring what other what her family or others thought about her.

As an introvert, I was inspired by Beatrice's courage and spunk to throw away what was comfortable to her and try something new.

I thought to myself, if a fictional character could do this and learn more about herself, then why couldn't I do the same?

I formed new relationships, tried new extracurricular activities, like speaking in front of a camera.

And learned more about myself than I ever thought possible.

Reading builds community.

I have read something of 60,000 pages in the span of two years.

Well, 61,187 if you count 2:00 AM last night.

That means a lot of my time is spent in the library.

The kind ladies who work there are my librarians.

My daily trip to the library is greeted with a warm, Ella, we just read a book that you would love.

By building these relationships with the librarians, they introduced me with a girl my age who reads just as much as me and has become a very close friend.

And we all want new friends, right?

And guess what, you don't have to read 61,000 pages to do that.

Though it might help.

Reading is entertaining.

Not only do you make more friends, but you have fun too.

You can soar over buildings like Agatha from the School of Evil, or fight for your life in an arena with Katniss Everdeen.

Or learn who you are like Sophronia from the Etiquette and Espionage series.

Or live against all odds like Anastasia from Romanov.

Reading can allow you to have so much fun, and you can do all these things by just turning the pages of a book.

Reading helps you live life.

Reading gets you out of the confines of your life and helps you live.

No matter what holds you back, whether it be fear, illness, or lack of access.

Reading opens up the world and puts it at your fingertips.

It's like dreaming, but you get to pick the dream.

Even if you're confined to a wheelchair, you can still soar over buildings with Harry Potter through J.K Rowling's words.

Or even if you haven't found love, you can fall in love through Prince Maxon and America Singer's story in The Selection series.

Or even if you can't be the person you want to be because society deems it so, you can be that person by just reading.

Reading has taught me many things about my life, and I don't think I'd be the person I am today if I wasn't an avid reader.

So, I encourage you.

That though you may think reading is boring, give it a try.

I mean, if it helps you at least half as much as it helps me.

I know you won't regret it.

My point is, though reading may be forced and assigned, it can also be fun and enjoyable.

And I find the only way you can soar over skies, fight for your life, or learn who you are is by reading.

Thank you.