It took me a long time to learn how to read. In fact, I’m pretty sure I still don’t have it down. I remember having my parents read Roald Dahl books as a kid, and finally getting to chapter books in second grade, and I definitely thought I could read pretty well when I picked up Plato’s Republic for the first time in 9th grade. But then college came around and I found out that was all an illusion, and that reading is so much harder than just turning pages.

Now, the first problem some of you may have already fallen victim to. I bet roughly 25% of the people who started reading this column have flipped the page, checked out the other columns, or just set the Weekly down entirely. Even just now I took 30 seconds to collate some pages I printed out for another class. Why don’t we read something for more than paragraph without doing something else? When you read, do you often find your mind drifting, and catch yourself staring off into space, taken by what initially was a slightly related idea to the text, but then, if you’re a guy at least, you end up thinking about sex? I was reading about the “Stream of Consciousness” the other day, and I went from stream to beach to summer to… well, they probably wouldn’t let me print that.

It wouldn’t be so annoying if it didn’t happen all the time. Regardless of what I’m reading, unless maybe it’s Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings, I seemingly cannot read it continuously for very long. The worst, however, is when I have to read articles online. So many things are just one click away: CNN, Webmail, Google Chat, and the worst—Facebook. Facebook. That website that demands just enough checking to become habitual. Just enough diversions to soak up a half hour without you batting an eye. Just compelling enough that you can be sitting at your desk, open up Firefox, and be logged on before you know to stop yourself.

I’m not going to rip on Facebook anymore. Firstly it would be very hypocritical of me to do it, and secondly, I don’t think it’s that bad. Power to those who quit, or never get profiles in the first place, but I am going to keep using it until those advertisements begin to talk and pop up. Remember, my problem is not with Facebook, but with myself.

I find ways to keep myself from reading. I’m sure I’m not alone. But I’ve also found ways to keep reading, and stay engaged with the text, no matter how boring.

The penultimate strategy: I now read, whenever I can, with a pen. My pen is my best friend reading, because not only does it do the work of underlining, starring, and circling, but it can also write words.

Too simple? Nay, I say to thee. For that underlining makes me find what’s important, that starring lets me find key ideas again, and circling gets me to find key words in the text that I may want to look up or use again. But writing words is the biggest gift the pen can give. Now, when I have that idea I get from reading the text, instead of just thinking about it and letting my thoughts fly onward, I can write it down, right next to where I had the idea in the first place! A pen keeps me focused on the text, but it also keeps my ideas near the text too. Plus, if I begin to draw instead of write, I know I’m not paying attention, and won’t have to read that whole page again because I’ve already forgotten what it’s about!

That in itself doesn’t fix my problem. Knowing something is good doesn’t always make you do the good thing (sorry Plato). So I consciously try to want to read the text I have to. If I open up the internet, I close it down immediately and thing ‘No—I want to read this,’ or if I leave my books to get food, I ask myself ‘Are you hungry, or just bored?’ Does it always work? Honestly, no, but at least I remind myself of what I should be doing, and that’s as good a place to start as any.

So I can’t read—well. But no parent or professor can help me get better at this point. It’s up to me, my trusty pen, and the strength of my will to finally learn how to read.