For the next two posts, I intend on discussing the idea and importance of reading.  First as it pertains to me personally, and second as to its wider implications.

 A couple of years ago during school I was reading a book in a free period.  When I have the time, it helps break the monotony of classes.  But my friend had been making fun of me for it. 

 “So,” I said , “what’s wrong with that?”

 I was rather defensive since it was a book by Frank Herbert, a favorite author of mine.

 “It’s boring! Besides,” he said sardonically, “you’re not doing anything! You just sit there and look at a bunch of words.  Where’s the fun in that!?”

 And that’s what it comes down to for so many people isn’t it: where’s the fun at? I remember sitting there, momentarily stunned, and wondering if that was the beginning of  my complete social demise. 

 “But no?” I thought, “It’s not like I’m the only one who reads!”

 I was surprised at how close to the truth that errant thought actually was.  I can remember surreptitiously asking friends whether they had read anything good lately – just to test the waters.  I couldn’t believe how many said they hadn’t read a book on their own in years.  Sure, they read To Kill A Mockingbird because we had to. They gritted their teeth through Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, but that was the extent of it.  So that made me think: why do I like to read?

 So I’ll put out there the few things that I felt were the most important to me when it came to reading.  First, finding what kinds of books I like to read.  Sounds easy, right? Well for a lot of kids you find that they just don’t know what they like.  They’ve never explored the different genres to get a feel for what interests them.  Once you hit on something you enjoy, you go back for more!  Think of the thousands of young kids that are now fantasy nuts because of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.  When you have a new series or novel sitting in front of you by your favorite author, it’s exciting! It’s the only virus that doesn’t make you sick!

 Second, the example set by my parents.  My fondest memories are of my mom and I going to the library on a Saturday, getting a big bag of books, and going home to flop on the bed and read.  It was something she genuinely enjoyed and she wanted to instill that enjoyment in me.  Her with a 1000 page historical fiction on Cleopatra, and me with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are.  It made reading more fun!  If there was a word I didn’t know, I was told I always should ask.  If there was a picture I liked, I would share it with her.  Sometimes she would tell me about what was going on in her book to change things up.  It became an activity that was engaging to all the facets of my curious 5 year old mind. 

 And that’s the most important part.  Reading does not mean sitting in a dark room with a light by yourself.  Reading means engaging yourself in a story that takes you away from your normal life and transports you into the world created by the author.  You can be Hester Prynne in Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, walking down 17^th century Jamestown with a scarlet “A” on your chest. You can be Harry Potter soaring around the Quidditch field trying to find the golden snitch.  You can be Ender from Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game walking down the halls of Battle School.  You can be anything!

 So — ask your kid what he wants to be when he grows up, if he says fireman then give him a big ole’ book about fireman! What’s the worst that could happen? A lecture from your 5 year old about the need for fire extinguishers!? 

[I do apologize for the delay between posts, but it seems the beast that is high school had me firmly in its grasp for a few months.  Stayin’ slow isn’t always easy!]

 Most parents would like to think that their teens don’t cheat.  That they do their work honestly and faithfully.  That their eyes remain on their paper and all work is their work.

 Teens today, however, don’t quite operate that way.  If 10 students were assigned a reading assignment with discussion following it the next day, it would go something like this: 3 students wouldn’t read it all, 4 students wouldn’t read it, but WOULD read the Sparknotes/Cliffnotes/Offline Summary, and the other 3 students will actually do the assignment as intended.  I can honestly say that I fall into the category of actually reading the assignment. Shortcuts are becoming more and more appealing.  A recent study put forth by the Josephon Institute involving 100 randomly selected students from public and private schools showed that 64% of U.S. high school students have cheated on a test, 38% stating they had done so on more than one occasion.  Furthermore, 36% said they had used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment. 

 Who’s to blame for the alarmingly high statistics? Parents? Teachers? Internet? Television? Society? The easy way out is to blame us — the students.  Students are a part of the problem, but perhaps it’s the classroom that could be the problem.  Perhaps an overwhelming focus on, “what’s the answer?” as opposed to, “how did you reach that answer?” is the reason.  I attend a well-respected Private School with teachers who range from ex-NASA scientists to the Dean of Admissions and Sciences at a major state university.  At an institution that prides itself for it’s attention to detail and student understanding of the material, I have actually had a teacher say to me “It’s not important that you understand what you’re doing — just that you do it.”  I was at a loss for words.  Had I actually heard that?  I had.  There are times in life when just having the right answer is what’s required.  Yet there comes a point when you can only get so far with just the answer.  People will want to know the details. 

 And to some degree isn’t that what being slow is about; that the details often hold more weight and meaning than the big picture. 

We’re bogged down with practically unbelievable and unmanageable amounts of work!  Competition for University acceptance is worse than ever and I don’t see it getting any better.  It’s not the situation that people may want things to be in, but reality is what it is.  But maybe — just maybe being aware of what’s going on could improve where we stand.

 Cheater, cheater, pumpkin-eater?  I had enough sense as a 3 year old not to like the sound of it!  Still — for some, it does have a ring to it.  

My name is Evan Slovak [puns on the name will ensue] and I try to keep things slow in my fast-paced third year of high school…try being the operative word. I’m an easy-going Southern-Californian who wears flip-flops in winter and thinks the weather in San Francisco is about as cold as any place can, or should, get. In the past week and a half I have managed to:

- study for three exams
- close the fall production of The Taming of the Shrew as Tranio
- attend a political debating convention
- finish my assigned homework [too much of it, but that will come later]
- try not to think about the SATs
- prepare for the inevitable Thanksgiving dinner questions about college
- celebrate my 17th birthday

I know I got some sleep in there somewhere, but I can hardly remember when. So now that you know I’m a politically-active, flip-flop wearing, sleep-deprived, theater-loving, high school student, I’ll get down to the issue at hand: How can teenagers, in this hyperspeed culture, be slow? I’m as connected as the next teen. My cell phone is at my bedside, laptop on my desk and I enjoy the perks of our technologically charged culture as much as the next person. Yet as a teen, I feel I can safely say that we don’t recognize the magnitude of what is at our fingertips.

As a contributor to Slow Planet, I’ll be tackling this question and providing an inside look at high school students’ current culture of pressure and expectations of constant achievement, and the absence of simple chilled-out peace. I hope that you – whether you’re a fellow student, parent or fan of Honoré’s books - will comment on my posts and rise to this challenge with me. Send me an e-mail at macslovak@gmail.com and I’d be happy to discuss, answer, and exchange any and all aspects of what it means to be, and live, slow!