Entering New Worlds through Reading

By Bou Bunty, ACE Alumni

My ACE journey was quite an adventure both academically and personally. One of the things I am grateful for is how my reading life began when I was an ACE student, even though how it started was quite unpleasant.

Let’s go down the memory lane a little bit, shall we? Back to the year 2014, R/W/G and L/P classes were still a thing for GEP students, a huge thing; people who failed either one of the skills when they are in even levels had to spend a term going through one of those skill classes.

Personally, I was afraid of that possibility and I was lucky enough to never go through any one of those classes. Coming to think of it now, they are not so bad; it was just extra levels and time for more in-depth practice. However, I failed reading skill in my GEP 9B class, which meant that if the same thing had happened in the next term (GEP 10), I would have to attend an R/W/G class.

I was dumbstruck, and I had to do everything that I possibly could to improve my reading skills. That was when I really started reading. ACE library had a variety of books, but I wanted to own what I read, so I began to not only read, but to also collect books. I remember going to bookstores way too often back then but most the time I didn’t buy anything.

My first book was Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and it sucked me right into the magically visualizing world of reading. I finished that book in one sitting and I had to continue the wonderstruck journey. Consequently, I am now a bookworm and I read on a daily basis.

Bou Bunty's bookshelf at home

What I loved so much about reading, at that time, was that it provided me with an imaginary path to escape from reality. Back then, I was a high school student and high school can be dreadful sometimes. Now, as a busy university student who is constantly worrying about life, reading is a luxury, and my time reading is pure gold.

Usually, I read at night before I sleep, when all my daily tasks are finished. This keeps me on track with my academics, work and leisure. Now with four prestigious years of reading, I have read more than 200 books, lived in so many worlds and so many lives, and I am regularly inspired to create more.

Reading is the comfort zone of mine that I will never give up.