With the last week of this school semester coming to an end, I realize I have had many moments that led me to where I am today, from pursuing a design degree to writing this very post on my site. I wanted to relish some memories that books were able to create for me and wanted to share them with you.
The Start of Bee
Starting with how I got into reading in the first place. I am one of three children who immigrated to Canada when I was very little. My parents were never fluent in English but wanted to make sure that their children wouldn’t struggle with English comprehension. So every weekend they would bring us to the public library, and we were told to pick one fun book (usually fictional) and one educational book. I remember being so excited for the weekend just to be able to go to the library and check out two new books (which I would end up finishing the day of, and had to read multiple times throughout the week to quench my thirst for books). I specifically remember the summer challenges that the public library would host; “Every page read would deduct 1 cent from your library fees”. Even though I didn’t have any library fee I remember writing out all the books on a list and tracking how many I’d read within the month, it was a very gratifying experience. I have these weekly visits to the library to thank for creating the Reading Bumble Bee I am today.
Ms.McLane
As a kid, I moved to many schools and locations across the country, and finding new friends was always a scary thing for me, even now. I am quite an introverted person and struggle with social interactions. But once again, books were a haven for me, a place where I would be able to connect with many different characters and live in many different worlds, without having to worry about being judged.
I remember my first day in a new Junior High (Grades 6 to 9), most of my peers knew one another, and even though it was fun getting to know my classmates, going to the cafeteria at lunch and sitting with people was a very intimidating thing. But with most schools, we had a library! I would always go into the library and eat my lunch there. I quickly befriended the librarian, Ms.McLane, who showed me all sorts of books! Every day I would go in and update her on how I feel about the current book I was reading and was able to discuss the book with her. She was the one who got me into dystopian books, by suggesting series such as “Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi”, “Uglies by Scott Westerfeld”, “The Maze Runner by James Dashner”, etc. To this day those book series are my favorites, not only because they had a large impact on my younger self but also showed me a new genre of books.
Ms.McLane would go above and beyond for all her students, by calling many other schools in the district to get ahold of a book a student wanted. I remember a specific moment, where there were 6 books I wanted to take out of the library, so I could read them over the long weekend. But at our school there was a policy where students were only allowed to check out 3 books total, but that day she saw the little book fanatic in me and allowed me to check out 6 books. To this day I remember the excitment that ran throught me as she uttered the words “I’ll let you take the six books out, but you have to promise me that you will share your thoughts on Tuesday”, I was grinning ear-to-ear with her words.
Many may not remember her or have found her presence to be non-existent or relevent, but to me, she was one of my closest friends. A friend that I will always cherish and thank for expanding my view to a wide variety of genres and authors. So thank you Ms.McLane for befriending and entertaining a socially-anxious 11 year-old girl, it meant the world to her.