Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Tampa chapter.

During college, I’ve realized how much more I love to read. Before college, I didn’t have much interest in reading because I had distractions like going to school and playing tennis, which took up so much of my time. Whenever I had a break from those two things, I would usually watch TV. There was one book series that I was obsessed with, The Selection, but I won’t get into that series, though I highly recommend it. During my freshman year of college, I still had that large amount of free time, and I didn’t know what to do with it, so I started reading.

I had to share a room with two other girls when I lived in the Vaughn Center. We didn’t have a TV because there was no room, but I grew up not having a TV in my room so I was okay with it. During my freshman year, I had mostly gen-ed classes, so I just had nothing but time. I didn’t have a car either, so I was limited on where I could go. With nothing but time, I decided to try reading again or try to become a reader.

I was surprised with myself because I realized how much I loved to read. I haven’t loved reading since Elementary school. Freshman year, I believe I read six books, and I was proud of myself because that’s the most I’ve ever read in a year that wasn’t forced on me to read for a class. In sophomore year, I didn’t read as many books, but I read four. That year I was also trying to venture into different genres because I am more of a fantasy and adventure reader. I read genres like mystery, thriller, and romance that year. I’m not sure how I feel about the mystery and thriller genre, but it was certainly interesting. 

Now that I’m in my junior year, reading has become harder because all my classes are core classes. I have little to no free time, and when I do, I just want to relax and do nothing because of how rare it is to be able to ‘breathe’. I did, however, finish one book already, Hello Beautiful, which I recommend as it’s somewhat of a modern version of Little Women. This year, I brought a total of nine books, and my goal is to finish all of them before the school year ends. Lately, I’m working on my second book, Lessons in Chemistry, which is really good. I got into this book just like I normally get into most books, by watching the show first. People find it weird because they usually read the book first and then watch the show/movie, but I’m okay with being a little unorthodox.

I haven’t had much time to read this book because of my schoolwork, but I’ve been trying to make time because I got my friend to read this book too. My friend is a bookworm, and at first, I wanted her to read this at the same time as me so we could have a little book club. Now, it feels like we’re racing to see who can finish the book first because I started reading before her and now she’s ahead of me. 

I love to read, but this little competition adds to the enjoyment of reading. I can’t wait to see who finishes the book first, and I hope we can do that with other books. 

Ariana Fromm is a new writer for Her Campus at the University of Tampa. She enjoys subjects having to do with entertainment and traveling. Outside of Her Campus, Ariana is a sophomore at the University of Tampa, majoring in journalism with a minor in communications. She hopes that she can get into the sports writing industry and one-day cover sports such as tennis and hockey. Ariana enjoys playing sports such as tennis and basketball, as well as watching sports. She played tennis for 15 years, and even though she no longer plays it, she finds it to still be a big part of her life. She loves traveling, listening to music, writing, and watching films (mainly Marvel). She has also gotten more into reading since being in college and would love book recommendations.