Syriana Etheart: Literacy Lounge/Participating in Reading Group (2 points)

         On October 28th, I attended a literacy lounge hosted by the honors society for the Literature, Media, and Writing Department. I was really excited for this event because I had been feeling really stressed out lately and felt like I hadn’t really had the time to sit down and do something for myself. Additionally, I’m a big lover of reading. I had always been into reading for pleasure, but ever since I arrived at Spelman, I got swept up into hustle and bustle of campus life. This led me with virtually no time to invest in reading and left me in a reading slump. Therefore, when I saw this opportunity, I made sure to clear time in my schedule. 

        At the literacy lounge, everyone was encouraged to bring anything they wanted to read. I did have a reading assignment due for ADW at the time, so I did start off by finishing that. Afterwards, however, I began reading one of the physical books I brought from home, titled Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton. I found this a really interesting read because it didn’t only talk about romantic love. It discussed friendships and self-love, which is something I felt was really applicable to my life going into my first year of college. I was able to get through around 30 pages of the book. I haven’t picked up this particular book since, but I was able to push myself out of my reading slump and have been reading other books for pleasure. 

I’m sure that I could have gotten through more of the book, but the organizer of the Literacy Lounge paused our reading for everyone to have a group discussion. I was actually really surprised by this segment of the event because it wasn’t advertised. However, I loved it. In this discussion, we talked about everything pertaining to books. We discussed our favorite genres, how we feel about reading as a whole, and more. What I found most interesting is how we were able to discuss how Spelman’s curriculum shaped our relationship to reading and how literacy as a whole has been changing within our society. The entire group agreed that the rise of social media and short-term content has disrupted literacy. We also agreed that Spelman has broadened our perspectives on literacy. I found it interesting when the senior English majors spoke on this topic because they explained how they’ve encountered so many new female authors. As someone who is considering a writing and or English minor, I loved hearing their perspective. I also loved discussing how romance is viewed as a genre as “unserious” or not real writing because it’s one of my favorite genres. I love hearing what others have to say about the topic because I find that it varies, even among the female audiences. 

Overall, I loved this event. It provided me a very much-needed break and reminded me how much I love reading. I also loved having a community of readers that I could turn to and discuss reading in a way I usually am unable to do. I definitely hope that another event like this happens in the future!