Youth Forward Scholarship Winter 2018
How Books Have Impacted my Life and the Life's of Others
Victoria Rivas
El Paso, Texas
How
Books Have Impacted My Life and The Life's of Others
During
my seventh-grade year I started to volunteer in a bookstore called,
Books Are Gems. Book Are Gems, is a non-profit organization that
gives free new and used books to children. In the beginning, I was
really frightened I did not know how to organize the books and I was
scared of doing any mistakes. I always loved reading books since I
was very young. I remember begging my parents to take to the library
and check some new books out. Reding is my hobby, I love the idea
that our minds are able to create the scenario of the book we are
reading. It is like living in a movie, the emotions that books bring
upon you is beyond amazing. That is what kept me going during my
first days, having the satisfaction that this organization impulses
young kids to read. Many kids were having trouble picking books; they
were limited to the number of books they could take home. With time I
was able to gain confidence and happiness after I realized the change
that I was making in my community. El Paso, Texas is a city where its
literacy rate is very low. It is a city next to the borderland with
Mexico. Volunteering in this non-profit organization helped me
encourage kids to read, our book selection also included Spanish
books, which helped attract my Hispanic community. I learned that
books can be appreciated by everyone, it is just a matter of
experiencing the magic of a book.After more than five years of
volunteering in Books are Gems, it has helped me realize the career
that I wish to pursue. I wish to grasp young readers’ attention
through the internet, through the radio or television stations, as
well as a local or national newspaper, and magazines. I want to be
able to create and edit a magazine, to become a reliable source of
how news are conveyed. I want to expand my knowledge and share my
experiences with the world. I want to study a career in which my
voice can be heard by many readers, so I dream of becoming a
journalist. If I was able to make a change while volunteering at Book
are Gems, I imagine what I will be able to do as a journalist. I will
become an agent of change in my community.
Books Have Impacted My Life and The Life's of Others
During
my seventh-grade year I started to volunteer in a bookstore called,
Books Are Gems. Book Are Gems, is a non-profit organization that
gives free new and used books to children. In the beginning, I was
really frightened I did not know how to organize the books and I was
scared of doing any mistakes. I always loved reading books since I
was very young. I remember begging my parents to take to the library
and check some new books out. Reding is my hobby, I love the idea
that our minds are able to create the scenario of the book we are
reading. It is like living in a movie, the emotions that books bring
upon you is beyond amazing. That is what kept me going during my
first days, having the satisfaction that this organization impulses
young kids to read. Many kids were having trouble picking books; they
were limited to the number of books they could take home. With time I
was able to gain confidence and happiness after I realized the change
that I was making in my community. El Paso, Texas is a city where its
literacy rate is very low. It is a city next to the borderland with
Mexico. Volunteering in this non-profit organization helped me
encourage kids to read, our book selection also included Spanish
books, which helped attract my Hispanic community. I learned that
books can be appreciated by everyone, it is just a matter of
experiencing the magic of a book.After more than five years of
volunteering in Books are Gems, it has helped me realize the career
that I wish to pursue. I wish to grasp young readers’ attention
through the internet, through the radio or television stations, as
well as a local or national newspaper, and magazines. I want to be
able to create and edit a magazine, to become a reliable source of
how news are conveyed. I want to expand my knowledge and share my
experiences with the world. I want to study a career in which my
voice can be heard by many readers, so I dream of becoming a
journalist. If I was able to make a change while volunteering at Book
are Gems, I imagine what I will be able to do as a journalist. I will
become an agent of change in my community.
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