A Note to Students

Bust the Reading Myth

I want this text to bust a myth that may have led you to think that you are a poor reader. You are not a poor reader. We never stop growing and changing as readers, and you are somewhere along an infinite path of development. With practice, you will continue down that path. Here is that myth that many students– and possibly you– believe:

MYTH: Good readers read something once and understand it perfectly. They read quickly. They don’t struggle with reading. 

This is FALSE. Reading is an involved, complex thinking process. To understand a text, we must reread to move beyond the surface. Our brains do not absorb the ideas off the page. This takes time and engagement. With many activities in life, we associate speed with skill, but this is not the case with reading. Everyone struggles with reading. Good readers don’t give up. They are resilient. They have learned strategies to persist through those struggles. If you believe the reading myth, then I hope this text will change your perspective. Busting this myth will help you take control of your reading process.

Build Confidence

I want you to feel confident about yourselves as readers. I want you to identify yourselves as readers. If you already feel confident, then you have established the foundation for satisfying and successful reading experiences. You have the grit to persist when you are struggling to understand a text. If you don’t feel confident, this text will help you to develop that confidence. You can begin that process in section the first section of the book: Building and Sustaining Resilience. If you build your confidence as a reader, that will help you in all of your college courses.

Reduce Costs

Every semester, students tell me they cannot afford the course textbook. While I provide other options– reserving copies of the book in the library, lending my book, taking pictures of assigned readings from a peer’s text– all of them are inconvenient. You shouldn’t have to choose between eating and buying a textbook, and the costs of textbooks should not saddle you with more debt and prohibit you from pursuing your education. I hope this text will alleviate the financial burden of pursuing higher education, even if just slightly.