Let us begin this conversation by looking back at times in your life when you read books or any printed medium, for that matter, simply because you wanted to. It was not because of some reward, nor was it because you wanted to avoid some kind of negative consequence by not reading. What was it like then?

Chances are, you enjoyed the experience so much that you probably did not notice the time. You felt you had all the time in the world to immerse yourself in the words of the book. Most probably, the experience was so vivid in your memory that you could still remember the stories, the authors, the book series, even characters’ names, and more.

Would you say that those moments were meaningful? Rewarding, even?

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I have been teaching teenagers for almost 5 years now, and I find this group of students both challenging and rewarding to work with. The kids are challenging because they are at the beginning of that stage in life dreaded by most parents and teachers alike. You guessed it right – PUBERTY!

On the other hand, the experience is rewarding for different reasons. Because the kids are battling with hormonal changes, pressure from peers to blend in, pressure from (some) parents to achieve, conflict between school rules and their search for an identity (thus the weird hair do, the psychedelic nail polish, etc), to get them focused on goals and what it is they really want for themselves is already quite a feat.

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