Month: November 2023

Reading was not a prominent pastime during my childhood, often taking a backseat to more exciting activities. I was never the type of child to establish a daily reading routine, participate in school book clubs, or set yearly book-reading goals. Instead, my formative years were primarily devoted to sports, outdoor adventures, academics, TV shows, and socializing with friends and family, leaving little room for reading. The only instances where I would engage with books were when they were required for school or when reading religious texts for temple rituals. I admit I didn’t find reading enjoyable; I always believed there were more entertaining activities I could be doing.

However, everything changed when quarantine hit in the spring of 2020. Having exhausted all my other entertainment options, like YouTube videos and Netflix shows, I decided to give reading another chance. To my surprise, I discovered a genre I truly enjoyed: narrative and fantasy. During quarantine, I finished about 6-8 books in this genre, a testament to the sheer boredom I was experiencing. But beyond merely passing the time, I genuinely cherished this period of my life where reading played a significant role, filling the gaps in my day. My interest in short stories and fantasy can be traced back to a cherished childhood experience: bedtime stories.

I vividly recall a cold December night, with snow falling outside during the 4th-grade winter break. My twin brother and I were playfully engaged in a pillow fight and mini-hoop basketball, eagerly anticipating our mother’s arrival to tuck us into bed with enchanting short stories. Restless at 9:30 p.m., we couldn’t imagine falling asleep within the next 30 minutes. However, when our mother finally entered the room, she turned off the ceiling lights, leaving only a tiny nightlight and the warmth of a portable heater to illuminate our shared space. As the lights dimmed, my brother and I fell silent, transitioning from restlessness to rapt attention to the stories our mother was about to weave. Nestled under our blankets by the heater, we eagerly absorbed the tales of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, Good Night Moon, Jack and the Beanstalk, and more. Despite hearing these stories countless times, each felt like a unique and magical experience. We were fast asleep within minutes, eagerly anticipating the same enchanting experience the following night.

Throughout elementary school, my mother’s nightly storytelling sessions introduced me to fantasy literature. These early encounters with heroic adventures and imaginative tales laid the foundation for my later interest in the genre. During quarantine, my reading preferences aligned with those childhood stories of action-packed narratives featuring heroes conquering evil. This inclination led me to books such as “The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes,” “The Alchemist,” “Treasure Island,” “The Siren Depths,” and more.

The way I approach writing is closely tied to my reading journey. I have often drawn from my unique heritage and upbringing, thanks to my status as a second-generation Indian. My experiences growing up in a culture distinct from my American peers provided a wealth of material for my writing. From Hinduism and vegetarianism to Indian foods and holidays, my daily life was distinctly diverse, making it a natural and compelling topic to explore in my writing.

Additionally, having a twin brother, a rare and exciting experience, offered another rich source for my writing. This aspect of my life is further connected to my heritage and upbringing, highlighting the stark differences between my experiences and those of my friends and peers.

This writing approach extended to my Common App essay, which revolved around my experiences as a twin. While many of my peers agonized over choosing unique and compelling topics for their college application essays, I had no such struggles. I settled on “Growing up with a Twin Brother” almost immediately after the essay prompts were released. I even completed a rough draft before others could decide on a suitable topic. My teacher’s approval of my essay topic only added to its appeal to the admissions committee.

In conclusion, my journey with reading has been unique and evolving. Throughout childhood, I never considered reading a significant part of my life, often prioritizing other activities and interests over books. However, the unexpected circumstances of the spring of 2020, notably the boredom from quarantine, prompted me to revisit reading. In retrospect, my reading journey and my writing experiences have been intertwined with my early exposure to bedtime stories and my distinctive upbringing. These elements have shaped how I engage with literature and writing, making them hobbies and essential aspects of my identity and self-expression.

Reflection Post

The literacy narrative as a whole has helped me reach a lot of the leaning outcomes of the class especially “practicing the writing as a process, recursively implementing strategies of research, drafting, revision, editing, and reflection.” Revising my initial draft of the narrative helped me use more powerful language to help get my point out in a more appealing manner, and helped me edit my essay where it was rushed as well. In addition, the revision process helped me correct my ending, making sure that i was honest with myself, and not having a happy ending to my reading experiences. I just through that transition back to the written narrative made me describe each part of my narrative has more detail than compared with my comic, and there was more freedom for me to write, as I was not limited to the picking and choosing the more “important” parts of my narrative like I did for the comic. I do not see the story any different through the revisions and comic book process, but I did find that I believe that some reading moments were more “profound” in my development compared to others.

I chose to recreate the a shot from the movie Oppenheimer because it was one of the biggest and influential films this year and was made by my favorite director Christopher Nolan. Oppenheimer talks to Einstein only once, but this scene is replayed over and over again in the movie and the content of their conversation is the finale of the movie. The importance of this shot is further exemplified by the meme trend that followed the movie’s release in July 2023. While I didn’t have the glorious trench coat that Oppy wears, I adorned a shockingly similar hat and chose a spot to recreate the photo with leaves on the ground. I am disappointed with how the lighting came out because I waited until I thought the time of day matched but the photo came out much darker. This must be due to some sort of professional camera difference/trick. Nolan is known for using only the highest quality IMAX cameras in the world, the outcome of such unfortunately cannot be satisfied by my dinky little Iphone camera.

Link to playlist: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/gym-time/pl.u-e98lGL5TzgKzBX4

Reflection:

The playlist I chose to make involves going to the gym. I just started going to the gym regularly when I got to college, and I enjoy it, but it is challenging to get into the gym mindset and maintain high amounts of energy at the gym as well. So, I made a playlist to help me conserve energy and remain in a good mood throughout the gym session and to make me push myself to fail every set that I do. A slight twist that I made in the playlist is that each song has to contain only two artists, which means no solo songs and no songs with any bands. I did this because I like to go to the gym with one “gym partner,” so I made the songs I picked have only two artists. In addition, I also enjoy listening to different types of music, so I made sure to make the playlist reflect my musical taste as a whole and not only stick to one genre. But the order which I made the songs did not have much of an influence, as most of the time i am in the gym, I don’t have a set order of music which I am going to listen do, instead usually just shuffle the songs in the playlist, hence the oder of the songs not playing too much of a role.