Feature: “The only thing unreadable is a blank sheet“
 |
| Image: Healthline |
DO YOU READ?
“The only thing unreadable is a blank sheet.”
The above words were said to me about half a decade ago, but they still ring in my ears as though they were said to me some few minutes ago. The positive impacts they have had on me, thus far, are unsurpassed. In fact, they will continue to live with me for as long as I breathe.
I don’t remember the exact day. But, I was in JHS 2, at the time, at Benevolent Child International School. A fine-looking gentleman, accompanied by the headmaster, walked into our classroom. After exchanging pleasantries, he introduced himself as Mr. Mohammed Muntala. He had come as our new ICT teacher. This was my first encounter with him.
As someone with an undying interest in ICT back then, I was particularly impressed by how he explained an otherwise abstruse topic to the apprehension of almost the whole class on his first day of teaching us. From then forward, my colleagues and I enjoyed every bit of his lessons.
Eventually, I became very close to him, and this rapport would fast forward become one of a mentor and a mentee. And he’s since been a mentor to me, and has offered me shoulders to ride on, always. Under his tutelage, I’ve learned a great deal of stuff, which I will forever live to cherish.
One fateful evening, while in the middle of a tête-à-tête with him in his room, he asked me a question that struck a chord in me – certainly a life-changing question. That question proved to be a turning point, simply on account that it awakened my unconscious mind to consciousness.
“Do you read?” he asked, slowly. For a moment, I was confused. The question sounded quite obfuscating and ambiguous to me, albeit it was straightforward. The confusion was so obvious from my facial impression that he effortlessly noticed. So, he reframed the question to “Do you read books outside the scope of your field of study?”
“I, err…” I was lost for words. I admitted that I didn’t read books outside the scope of my field of study. Given that I was a General Science student, the only books I read were my physics, chemistry, biology, math books and other books of their ilk. Any book aside these didn’t take my fancy.
“One of the best gifts you can give yourself is to adopt the habit of reading to a point where you would become a voracious reader,” he retorted. “And if you want to become relevant in society, then you should befriend books,” he added. “Ezzideen,” he continued carefully, “the only thing unreadable is a blank sheet.”
As I left his room that evening, I felt the truth of his words pulsing inside me. He had voiced something I had known but hadn’t known that I had known. Little did I know that, as a result of that short conversation, my life will fork down a different path entirely, moving forward.
I lived by those words, and today, as I write this piece, I can only look back and be proud that I didn’t take his words for granted. Although I’m still trekking on the path of becoming a voracious reader, I know that I’m better off today than I was some five years ago, and I hope that my love for reading will rise to a fearsome crescendo.
Inferring from my personal experience, reading has a multitude of benefits. Inter alia, reading improves your vocabulary, hones your writing skills, broadens your horizon, gives you a different view of the world, expands your knowledge on a subject, and strengthens your memory.
Books are to the mind what food is to the body. To wit, books build your mind like how working out builds your muscles. While you invest in building your muscles, you should equally invest in building your mind by virtue of reading. In my opinion, the latter is even somewhat more important than the former.
Dear friend, do you read? Or, to be more specific, do you read books outside the scope of your field of study?
By Mohammed Ezzideen Yakub (UHAS)
Email: ezzideenyakub@gmail.com
Post a Comment