7. Researching Reading: Research Paper Rough Draft

This blog post is the rough draft of my introduction for my research paper, exploring the connection between childhood reading and academic success. :)

Here’s the scene: I'm a ten-year old girl sitting in my Grandma Mellor's home in the small town of Globe, Arizona. I have my nose in a book, and she's chuckling as she moves to sit down on the couch beside me. "Did you know when I was a little girl I never stopped reading, either?" I put down the book for one moment and look at her, trying to imagine her without all the wrinkles and short gray hair. I can almost picture her skin smoothing out and her bright blue eyes remaining exactly the same. Slightly surprised I ask, "What did you read?" She tells me, "A bit of everything, but my favorite book was called Sarah, Plain and Tall.  I was just like her! Plain, skinny, and tall. I loved that book."

Flash forward a couple years. My room is dark except for two little flashlight beams, one coming from my sister's bed and one from mine. The door suddenly slams open and we scream as our mom's silhouette appears at our bedroom doorway. "You two are still up reading?" She's incredulous, and it's late. "Did you even get your homework done?" We fumble excuses about how we just wanted to read one more chapter. "Well it's lights out and I'm going to have to take those until tomorrow." We reluctantly hand over our respective copies of Judy Moody  and The Goose Girl. She seems like the bad guy in this situation, but we both knew that she would be upstairs reading her own novel. It's where we got the habit from.

Lastly, picture my four-year old sister. I am fourteen years older than her, and so bedtime story responsibility often fell to me. We're curled up in her big girl bed, a stack of picture books beside us. She giggles uncontrollably as I imitate what I imagine to be the stuffy British accents of "Frog" and "Toad," in Frog and Toad Are Friends. My fourteen-year old brother pokes his head into the room. He pretends to be uninterested, but I can see him smiling. Soon, all of my siblings are in Megan's room, each reading her a story before she goes to bed.

What is this phenomenon of family reading? It has brought us together and is one of the strongest bonds between the members of my family. It's not uncommon to find us all in one room, each wrapped up in another world. My parents read aloud to each one of us, starting as soon as we could look at pictures, and up until this day. My grandmother instilled a love of reading into my mother, and she instilled it into us. Curiously, all of my siblings have, to this point, excelled in school. My brother and sister are showing up my 3.9 GPA with perfect 4.0s, and our little preschooler knows the alphabet, can count to 100, and has a massive vocabulary, including “camouflage” and “pterodactyl.”

Experts tell us there is a strong correlation between childhood reading and academic success, but how true is this principle? Children’s television shows such as “Sesame Street,” “Super Why,” and others aired on PBS Kids and other stations definitely stress the importance of childhood literacy. In my experience of growing up in a bibliophile home, and watching four younger siblings grow up in that same environment, I would argue that we got good grades because we were read to in the home. With that in mind, other factors can potentially contribute to school performance, including how much and what type of television is consumed, whether or not family dinner is a regular occurrence, and whether or not the child has learning disorders such as autism or dyslexia. Reading aloud to young children ages one through ten fosters a love of reading, generates a feeling of safety in the home, and lays the foundation for academic success. Reading has positive effects on children, even if the other circumstances in the home are not ideal.

6. Reading: My Family Story

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been an avid reader. This is a trait I inherited from my mom, and she inherited from her mom. I think the love of reading is something that is instilled through parental example. I remember my mom reading me picture books, and then the steady progression to chapter books, and eventually I was reading titles like Jane Eyre or Great Expectations just for fun.

As the oldest child, I can also see the love of reading being instilled in my younger siblings. I would read them bedtime stories. We would do "reading parties," where all five of us would pile up blankets, pillows, and make epic forts. My youngest sister would be reading Junie B. Jones, and my brother would likely be snuggled up with at least one of the Harry Potter books. My mom would probably have a romance, and my dad would probably have some nonfiction book on posture or chess. But we would all be together, in our own little worlds. 

Sometimes we would even be grounded from reading--if we were staying up too late or reading at the dinner table. 

My Grandma Mellor had the same problem when she was growing up, and she hasn't stopped reading since. She read to her kids, and she reads to her grandchildren. She was an elementary school teacher and a primary teacher for many years. 

I wonder if the young age that my mom, my grandma and I all started reading had any effect on our work ethic or love of learning. We all succeeded in school and read for pleasure. I'm going to be conducting a research paper exploring the effects of reading on young children, and if there is any connection to academic success later in life. I think reading is valuable and fosters good qualities such as imagination and a love for life. 

5. Called to Serve: Mexico, Cancun!

I have been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I'm assigned to labor in MEXICO CANCUN! I couldn't be more excited to serve the Mexican people and the Lord. I know that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be for eighteen months of my life! For those who are perhaps wondering if serving a mission is right for them, this is kind of my thought process as I put in my papers and opened my call.

1) "What could I be doing for those eighteen months that could possibly be more beneficial for me or the people around me?" This is the question I asked myself as a fourteen year old, when I first started thinking seriously about serving a mission. I realized that a mission could be the best thing for my life. If there is something better that the Lord needs you to do, I think he will make it known unto you. Wherever you end up is where he needs you. If you don't serve a mission, maybe that just means that the Lord has plans for you to serve others where you are. Or maybe you just need to learn and grow, or meet certain people. But for me, a mission is the best use of my time in this period of my life.

2) "The Church will progress whether I'm involved in it or not." I realized this little insight as I contemplated serving a mission. The work of salvation is rolling forth around the world, "like a stone cut without hands." If I don't preach the gospel, that isn't going to stop Heavenly Father's plan of salvation from coming to pass. The question is then raised, "Do I want to be a part of this work?" I believe that is a blessing to even be a part of missionary work. This leads into the next thought....

3) "All ye that desire to serve are called to the work." This scripture really stood out to me as I studied in the temple. I realized that I do have a desire to serve! And that because of that, I have the opportunity to serve. Anyone who wants to serve the Lord can do just that, in whatever capacity they can. If you give your whole heart, you will be blessed by your labors.

4) "It's real. It's happening." This realization hit me right after I finished my interview with the Stake President. He informed me that my mission call would arrive sometime in the next two weeks, and that I would be a wonderful missionary. I just started crying. I couldn't help myself, because I realized that I would actually be serving as a missionary! I was just overwhelmed with joy. This is when I knew that I had made the right decision.

5) "Wherever he needs me to be." As I waited anxiously for my call, people would ask where I wanted to go or where I thought I would be called. I thought Germany would be cool because of my German ancestors, but I told them that I would honestly go wherever I was called. This mindset was really important to me, because I didn't want to be disappointed when I opened that call. I knew in my heart that wherever I got called would be the right place for me, so that made it easier. I also knew that I would love those people so much, whether they were from Tokyo or Toronto. I wasn't sure if I would get called English speaking or a foreign language. I wanted to learn a language, but I kind of had the feeling that I would go stateside, so that I could jump right in without a language barrier.

6) "I'm going to Mexico!?" When I opened my call, I couldn't believe it. I never thought I would go to Mexico! I did take three years of Spanish in high school, but I've forgotten most of it and assumed I would never need it. I was so, so, so happy though. And I'm still absolutely ecstatic. It just feels so right. I can't wait to meet the people there and experience it all. I know it won't be remotely easy, but now my mission feels real. I will be teaching real people, who live in Cancun. People who maybe moved there to escape from past struggles, or people who have lived in tiny Mayan villages for generations. It's a beautiful area filled with diversity and history. And the people there need the gospel.

7) "I'm supposed to be in Cancun." Okay, here's a cool story. My parents actually went to Cancun a few years ago, but their trip was unplanned. They were planning to go to Cabo San Lucas, but their cruise was rerouted due to a hurricane warning off the coast. They ended up exploring Cozumel, Tulum, and other areas in Cancun, exactly where my mission will cover! I really think this is a tender mercy from the Lord, because it means my parents are familiar with the area I will be serving. It just shows that things are set in place before we even know about them, and that Heavenly Father has a plan for everyone.

Another kind of fun detail is that I did multi-cultural dance club in high school. I joined this club just because the club president really needed more members. I didn't realize how much fun it would be, or the kind of friendships I would gain from it. I ended up hanging out with these wonderful hispanic girls at least once a week, learning about Mexican folklore dancing. I came to appreciate the beautiful skirts, movements, and culture of "folklorico." This gave me just a taste of what I'll be experiencing, and I'm grateful that I participated in this club.

8) "Time to prepare." So now it's really hard to focus in class. All I want to do is hop on a plan and fly to Cancun, but I have to wait until February. Luckily this gives me time to prepare, strengthen my testimony, learn the language, shop for missionary clothes, and finish school. I can't wait until it's finally time to leave and get to work! Stay tuned for more missionary updates and thoughts as February 14th gets closer!

4. Lifelong Missionary Work: My Analysis of Dallin H. Oaks' General Conference Address

As I had the great blessing to watch LDS General Conference this weekend, one talk stood out to me in particular. Dallin H. Oaks was the final speaker of the Saturday afternoon session, and he spoke to all members, giving them specific methods and advice for doing missionary work. He explains that there are methods that can be done by anyone, anywhere. Elder Oaks uses rhetorical questions, sentence structure, metaphor, and shares lists of advice as rhetorical devices that increase the validity of his remarks and persuade members that missionary work is really something that they can do.

The use of rhetorical questions is a valuable tool for any speaker. Elder Oaks uses it to ask, "Are we using our resources to maximum effect?" This causes the audience to ponder if they are effectively using modern technology, which is clearly a heaven-sent gift, for it's purpose of sharing the gospel. Elder Oaks then goes on to answer the question, explaining that the majority of church members are in fact, failing to utilize social media to its full potential. In this way, rhetorical questions asked throughout the talk help the audience think for themselves, "What more can I do?" 

Elder Oaks effectively uses sentence structure to create logos and pathos in his argument. He shares examples of everyone who can be reached by member missionary work, from persons who are "committed believers," to those "who have never heard his name," to those "satisfied with their current lives," to those "desperately seeking to improve themselves." This parallel sentence structure and repetition of "those persons" shows that we can share the gospel, whatever the circumstances. Sentence structure is also a valuable tool as he explains that "We need the help of every member, and every member can help." This sentence almost acts as a palindrome, because it uses the inverse wording. This is a powerful way to phrase a simple sentence, that both states the needs of the Church and how we can meet those needs. 

A highlight of Elder Oaks' talk is when he quoted Elder Quentin L. Cook and shared a metaphor comparing missionary work to a piano. Missionary work is not just one note, struck once in a song. It is rather, a "major chord" that needs to be played continually throughout the song. It's an integral part of the music, and is necessary to live in harmony. This figurative language is an effective device, because it is something many members can relate to and understand. It creates the image of being a missionary throughout your whole life, not just during the two years you may serve as a full-time missionary. 

Perhaps the most effective tool that Elder Oaks utilizes in his talk is lists. Lists are a rhetorical device that strengthen the logos of an argument, and in this case they make missionary work seem like something attainable and accessible to every member. There are two separate lists in the talk: one that describes three things all members can do to increase their effectiveness as missionaries, and one that gives specific ideas for members or wards. Elder Oaks says about the first list, "All members should do...all of them." By sharing these two lists, Elder Oaks also makes it easy to take notes, and remember what he is saying. This is important because he is addressing a conference audience, who are likely trying to get out nuggets of information to take home and act upon. 

This talk was especially important to me because I have recently turned in my mission papers. I am excited to get out in the field and share the gospel! As Elder Oaks eloquently puts it, "What could be more joyful than sharing the truths of eternity with God's children?" I think this talk will be valuable to me for my entire life, however, beyond the scope of my missionary service. It is addressed to every member of the Church, even those who don't currently have a desire to serve. You can pray to have this desire, and you can pray to know what you can do to spread the gospel truth. Like the piano chords that need to be continuously played, I believe that I will be doing missionary work throughout my entire life. I'm grateful for such inspired advice from the mouth of an Apostle, that encourages and instructs us on how we can constantly share joy with our brothers and sisters.