Essay Sample: Reading is My Identity

Reading is my Identity. My life could be described as a chaotic whirlwind always going around and around and never stopping. When I was about nine years old, my parents went through a divorce that lasted five years to finalize. Neither one of them got what they initially wanted, me. Instead I got co-parenting time which is basically how it used to be. During that time my coping mechanism was to read. I remember it started as a new interest, but it soon became my go-to place when things got rough. Reading was not just a hobby, it was who I am. I lived and breathed books, old and new, from fiction to biographies, romance to thriller to mystery. However, there were many challenges in my way of getting books. I had a limited amount of time because I was always in a sport or extracurricular to help me not be near my parent’s arguments. I also had a limited number of resources because I do not own a car, and I can not walk to my library by myself without my parent’s permission. The final challenge of books is that I always forget to do my homework, I am usually reading so much that I forget how much time has already passed. The effects of these challenges make me read less and less than I used to. By not being able to travel to my local library which is thirty minutes away from where I live, I do not usually go after school on weekdays. This is because outside of school I play a spring sport which is Volleyball and a fall sport which is Softball. So this is what I have done to get back into reading again this recent school year. I asked my father if we could put up a bookshelf bigger than the one I used to have in my bedroom because I made a goal to fill all the shelves before the school year ends. That way I still stay on top of my studies and sports but I also find time for myself.