Reading – resolution #7

If there’s one thing I have to learn this semester, it’s time management. I’ve gotten considerably better at it since freshmen year, when I would skip meals and use every chance I got to read my Mass Media textbook.

I managed time easily last year, achieving a 3.9 GPA and editing Arts & Life at The BV, but this year, I’m adding even more to my plate. Hooray for ambition!

Yesterday, I posted my new year’s resolutions, but I forgot to include something very important – reading. As I wrote in my ‘About‘ section, I said I would start reading the Money section of newspapers. I haven’t done that! I still know little about business news. Along with reading the paper, I’m reading a novel and a gift from Denny.

I read the novel in the morning while I eat my breakfast. Currently, it’s A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. Sometimes I read three pages, and sometimes I read 20. It depends on how big my breakfast is or how long I feel like sitting at the table.

At night, I’ve decided to read at least ten pages of “The Careful Writer,” the mysterious gift from Denny! Written by Theodore Bernstein, this book shows readers why we should take our language seriously and use it correctly. Denny wants me to finish reading it before I go to New York, and I plan to. He also let me borrow Bernstein’s “Watch Your Language.” If I finish “The Careful Writer,” this should take its place at night.

I have a decent schedule set out for my reading. But wait, I forgot about the newspaper!

People’s ability to read often baffles me. Thankfully, I have the Internet and web versions of every newspaper I need. This way, if there is a dull moment at work or if I’m spending a few minutes in the student lounge to check my e-mail, I can visit NYTimes.com or BuffaloNews.com for a quick glance at what’s going on.  I prefer a paper copy, which I can also easily attain on campus, but the Internet may be more convenient and less time consuming.

Over break, I have found all my news on Twitter. I follow The Buffalo News and some of its employees, The New York Times, NPR, WNY Media, The Olean Times Herald and WIVB. Also, my journalism-major friends retweet tons of useful information too. But if I’m not seeking out information myself, I might only get the filtered results that people choose for me.

Goal No. 7 for this year: Manage a reading schedule on top of schoolwork, my new promotions position at The BV and blogging. I can do it!