By: Sharika Hossain
Working with Reading is Fun (RIF) is definitely a highlight of my college experience. Growing up, I was somewhat of a bookworm, but as my classes became more demanding, it also became difficult for me to read for fun. The only books I would end up reading would be for my classes and they usually consisted of textbooks. For the most part, they felt like a burden and my love for reading started to diminish. For instance, Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach did not have the same feel as The Hunger Games series and it certainly did not bring me the same amount of enjoyment.
I saw RIF as an opportunity to not only gain back my love for reading, but to help international students find their own joy through it as well because English can be a difficult language for many. Various books and novels can use complex analogies, metaphors, and similes which are hard to understand at first. For example, one of the short stories in the book, Modern Love, uses the phrase, “Tigers never change their stripes” when talking about men and women that are very different from each other. The meaning of this phrase in regards to the story is that people don’t change their true personalities or behaviors just like how tigers don’t change the stripes they are born with. At RIF, mentors go over many unfamiliar words and phrases just like this one with their mentees so that they can fully understand the plot of the story and enjoy it together. Mentors like myself try our best to create an informal setting where students are comfortable speaking and learning with each other.
The experience has also helped me boost my own vocabulary skills. During one of our weekly sessions, I was able to learn what a “chupah” was with my co-mentor and mentees while reading Modern Love. The story was talking about how many wedding traditions can include “lobster bakes, white doves, exploding chupahs…” and since none of us knew what a chupah was, we decided to search for it online on Google Images. My co-mentor, my mentees, and I were then able to realize that a chupah was the canopy that a Jewish bride and groom stand under during their wedding ceremony. It was nice to be able to see what a chupah looked like and relate it back to the story. I highly recommend the mentoring position that RIF has to offer because it helps students build their communication, problem-solving, and teaching skills while making new friends and making reading fun again.
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