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As Ernest Hemingway aptly said, “there is no friend as loyal as a book.” Books are, indeed, true friends – they neither complain nor demand anything from us; they just give us true pleasure. Some of you might remember having a book in hand, sitting by your windowsill and reading until your eyes started to burn. This happens because books transport you into a whole new world. Be it fiction, fantasy or fantastic biographies, every book has something different to offer to the reader.
However, over the course of time, it has been observed that reading habits have diminished, especially in students. With the advent of television and the internet into our lives, or simply, the lack of time in our ‘busy’ schedules, reading habits have reduced to a great extent. However, avid book reading has a lot of benefits to offer.
Here are 9 benefits of avid book reading to a college student:
1. Boundless Knowledge:
College is clearly the time for students to focus on their careers. Hence, it is essential to develop as much understanding as possible in these years. True knowledge is very essential in shaping our character and perfecting our conduct and human relationships.
Our strengths and weaknesses need to be understood. We must learn the art of life. We need to make the best decisions and decide the correct course that will enable us to move forward effectively. During problems and adversities, we must save ourselves from risks and remain balanced and powerful. We must be able to express our opinions and offer space to accept other people's opinions as well. Reading provides us with such knowledge, thereby shaping our personality, bit by bit.
2. Expertise in Subject:
Colleges are mostly seen as a place for fun and frolic. In reality, this is the best time for you to expand your horizons and gain maximum in-depth knowledge. Some college students are, however, not merely attending college to get a degree; they wish to gain a specialization in their chosen field. The habit of avid book reading will, therefore, help such students get a push in the field of their choice, and will give them an edge in the subject of their choice.
It is recommended that all students inculcate the habit of reading in them to learn the art of critical thinking. Critical reading needs that the arguments in the text be evaluated. You need to differentiate between reality and opinion and look at arguments for and against the topic. This also implies that you must be conscious of your views and assumptions about the document you are reading so that you can assess it honestly. This will help expand your outlook and will make you a knowledgeable person.
3. Better Interpersonal Relationships:
One of the key concerns of any college freshman is whether one will be able to make new friends. Imagine yourself in the alien grounds of your college not knowing how to start a conversation, but someone is drawn towards your Harry Potter T-shirt. It is a tested fact that fandoms provide ample opportunities for people to talk with each other. Books will, therefore, always provide a common ground for you to talk to new people, and your common interests may also lead to a new friendship.
In addition to this, an in-depth reading of any book gives the reader a lot to think about. There may be some parts of a text that do not make sense to you, a line which challenges your beliefs, or a thought you don’t quite agree with. Such roadblocks in your head give birth to interesting conversations with your peers and will help you to enhance your thought process.
4. Enhanced Memory and Focus:
Reading is not just an enjoyable pastime; it is also a workout for your brain. The brain benefits from a nice exercise just like the muscles. Also, reading is more challenging in terms of neuro-biology than pictures or speech processing. As you absorb words, "sections of the brain that have developed for other functions — such as vision, language, and associative learning — connect to a particular reading neural circuit," as per professors at Yale.
5. Improved Imagination:
Many of you must have gone into the world of books and completely lost yourself along the journey. Have you imagined yourself as a Katniss Everdeen or a Percy Jackson, and been deemed a lunatic? Fear not, for you are doing your brain a favor.
A research released in a 2014 Brain Connectivity newspaper discovered that reading fiction enhances the capacity of the reader to put themselves in the shoes of another person and extend their imagination. And this, in turn, enhances mental theory. According to the scientists, "the act of reading places the reader in the protagonist's body." This is likely to expand the emotional intelligence and sympathetic capacity of a person.
6. Sound Mental Health:
Researchers discovered that reading to oneself silently works to slow down the heart rate and relieve muscle tension. And it does this more efficiently than other traditionally "relaxing" operations like dancing, singing or listening to music.
This is probably because books can transport you to a whole new world.In addition to this, reading has also proven to keep mental health sound even in old age, and possibly delay Alzheimer’s among the elderly.
7. A Fruitful Hobby:
Reading enables you to understand individuals and situations and makes you a wiser, more mature person. Biographies and autobiographies or even plain reading materials add to our knowledge.Reading keeps you busy without feeling alone or troubled. With the development of technology, it has also become an inexpensive hobby. It's a way to practice self-discipline as well.
8. Better Writing and Communication Skills:
When you read, you benefit from someone else's understanding and experiences, which makes it an equally enriching experience for you as well. This, in turn, helps you to improve your communication skills, and make you come across as an interesting person.Reading is regarded as a good practice because it also helps one to expand vocabulary and improve grammatical understanding, thereby contributing to one's linguistic fluency. Speaking fluently with accurate grammar makes one look polite, gentle and knowledgeable. Also, it will certainly help you in standing out and acing job interviews.
You might as well hear people saying that reading books is not a cool thing to do, but it comes with much more benefits than what meets the eye. So go out and proud and flaunt your books!
Written by - K. R. Swathi
Edited by - Vasudha Sabharwal
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