Disha Sanjit, Grade 8, Our Own English High School, Sharjah Girls
I am what most people would call a ‘book worm’. And I am proud of it. Though I read books primarily for pleasure, when I reflect on how I respond to situations, I realise that I tend to act like the characters in the books I read.
Some have been courageous responses and the others I dare say, are trivial.
Either way, the most important lesson I have learned from books is how to love myself.
This is, I believe, a very significant lesson as without loving yourself, you cannot love others.
Some books that have taught me this lesson are Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, Dork Diaries by Rachel Russell. But the book that speaks to me the most is How To Be A Bawse by Lilly Singh. The book is basically summarising how Lilly reached where she is today, through the lessons of life.
The key to success? Believe in yourself and learn how to love yourself.
In the Dork Diaries series, the protagonist, Nikki Maxwell, is recording her accounts in her new school with her friends and her frenemies. She learns to love and believe in herself to gain the friendship of her crush Brandon Roberts. I started to apply these lessons in my life and it really helped me through the tough times when other people brought me down and I had to bring myself up again.
The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling taught me to be brave and vigilant in the most unpredictable situations. The Lunar chronicles series by Marissa Meyer show you how creative and uncanny the storyline could be but still have some of the strongest lessons in life; friendship and love.
How much ever I read books, the only way to learn the lessons of life is through experience. Clearly, these characters in the books emerged from their experiences fine so who says that I can’t?
