By Micah Abad Staff Writer
I never enjoyed reading as a kid. Whether it was about three little pigs or a girl’s first kiss, I didn’t like reading. My parents always scolded me for not reading enough. My dad would always say, “Reading will expand your vocabulary and knowledge.” My response was always the same, “I read the subtitles.”
Growing up, I watched a lot of shows in my free time. It was my favorite thing to do either by myself or with my grandfather. I loved romance specifically because it was something about the sparks the characters had with each other that I was fond of.
I started watching shows from Disney, but as I grew older my interest in shows started to become more diverse. I always watched Filipino and American tv, but transitioning to my teenage years, I started to like Korean and Chinese shows as well. There was something about how each culture portrayed love differently. They may have all had an expected happily ever after, but they all had different twists and turns to get to the ending.
Watching romance has always been a staple for me from before to now. On my free days or a regular Friday night, my mind was always set to watch some movie that either just came out or another replay. I have rewatched every single movie or show I watched on Netflix, to the point where my mom would get annoyed at hearing the same two lovers all over again.
If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I pick my shows and movies based on the ratings that are shown next to the title. “Five Feet Apart” has been a well known book about two teens who faced Cystic Fibrosis and couldn’t be together, but fell in love anyway. One Sunday I was scrolling through Netflix to try to find something to pass time. I saw that “Five Feet Apart” was added and I wanted to watch it after hearing the good feedback it was getting.
After watching it the first time, the story felt unforgettable to me. Fighting for the love they had for each other while fighting for their own life made the story so unique. It’s always so fascinating to me when two people could be the exact opposite of each other, yet still be so great for each other.
I tried finding the book after rewatching it the second time. I knew if I wanted to give reading another try, I needed to find a story that I’d love. Reading “Five Feet Apart” was like reviewing the story in the perspective of someone who worked in the movie, it lifted that boring feeling I had for reading. Once I finished reading the book, it finally started to click.
I didn’t jump ahead to another book right away after finishing Five Feet Apart. I created a routine which was to find a show or movie based on a book and watch the film before reading the book. Doing that was a jump start to reading more books for me.
I eventually learned to balance reading and watching tv. I’m not saying that I’ve read every single book that I watched from Netflix, but I will say that reading has much more value to me now than it ever has.
