In My Humble Opinion Paradise "Lost" on break

Author: Daniel Roberts

There I was, chilling at our Cape Cod house over the break, reminiscing over previous school vacations. I remembered lying on the beach in St. Lucia in seventh grade. I recalled sitting on a Greyhound bus, heading up to Manhattan to visit a cute, spoiled New York princess I used to date.

Then I realized that in each fond vacation memory, I am reading a book. One February break in Aruba I finished "The Neverending Story" (turns out it does end) in one day by the pool. Another break, I devoured "Life of Pi" in a single plane ride to Vegas.

Yet during this Thanksgiving break, I was not kicking back with some light novel. The few moments of leisure time I had alone were spent with "Paradise Lost." As I pondered this tragedy, I realized that I cannot remember the last time I had any chance to read a book for pleasure.

As overachieving college students, we have close to zero opportunities to read freely.

Many of you will now laugh, look up and say, "Who likes to read anyway? Books are dumb." Okay, but stop trying to impress your friends. Think about how you used to love those "Goosebumps" books, or how you tore through each "Harry Potter" book. You just think you hate reading because you probably haven't had a chance to really enjoy it in four years. Trust me, there was a time when you liked reading ­- you're doing it right now.

I would argue that the reason we never read for pleasure anymore is not because books are "lame." It is not due to popular new forms of media that distract kids, like Playstation or Internet games. The reason Becky Braces would prefer to watch "The Notebook" for the seventh time on her laptop rather than dive into a good novel is because of school.

High school is placing enormous stress on Becky to score high on her SATs, earn straight As and shine in the school play, all to get into a great college. This means that in the few hours she has to herself each week, she is so worn down from scholastic commitments that she does not want to focus on a book, but would prefer to do something a little more passive. Who can blame her?

I feel the same way. When I have an open hour on a weeknight, I would love to read, but my head is so flooded with academic texts that to focus on yet another book is too much to handle. The best I can manage is to throw on an episode of "Lost" and lie back on my bed.

The same stigma can be blamed for college binge drinking. Sure, some of us go out Friday night and drink three or four beers, have a good time and return to our bed safe.

Still, many others have such a powerful need to unwind from a week of schoolwork that they get to the party, take six shots, boot all over the futon and end up in the Health Center. Whoops.

I love our fifth-best liberal arts college, but it's a shame that the workload here is so heavy that when we finally get a minute of freedom, the best we can do to relax is drink ourselves to sickness or play Vice City for five hours.

If I did not have to spend all of my time reading John Milton or Nietzsche, perhaps I could devote more time to my old neglected friends, Dan Brown and Stephen King. Have you read even one book since last summer that was not assigned for a class? If you have, I am truly impressed. Now stop bragging.