Reader's Autobiography

Hi everyone! My name is Marybeth Nash. I'm a senior in the OHSU School of Nursing here at the La Grande campus. I'm from the Portland area (Beaverton, for those of you who are familiar with the area) where I grew up and went to high school.
I came to EOU to complete my pre-reqs for the nursing program and compete for the track and field team as a thrower (shot, disc and hammer). Thankfully, OHSU and EOU have a contract worked out so I can be an OHSU student and still do athletics for EOU.
I'm very excited to get my senior year of school and athletics underway and see where it all takes me!
I live close to campus in La Grande with my roommate and two dogs, Duke and Cooper, that I adopted from the shelter here in town.
In the small amount of free time that I do get, I enjoy spending time with my friends, being outdoors, riding my bike, etc.

I can vividly remember my first and second grade reading experiences. I have always been a strong reader/writer/speller and I remember finishing all of the books on my teacher's shelf and being the first to learn to spell the word "metamorphosis." Unfortunately, for most of my life I've taken my reading skills for granted because I've always been more preoccupied with sports and other activities. I'm typically a very active individual and sitting down to read always seemed more boring than intriguing.
I remember loving it when my mother would read to my sister and I when we were little. We would each pick a book from our collections and then my mother would read them to us before we would go to bed. Somehow though, that fascination with literature faded when I had to do the reading to myself. I spent most of my education trying to avoid reading and/or doing the minimum amount to get me by.
This last summer actually, I was working for a home health agency and had a lot of down time during some of my shifts. I started bringing books to work to read in my free time and I found that with the right book, I would finish a book per shift! (Granted, the shifts were usually 12-24 hours long, but I was still impressed!) I probably read 6-8 books this summer and to my surprise, found that I was really enjoying it.
I'll be the first to admit that I LOVED the Harry Potter books. It just wasn't like reading a dry, monotonous textbook, it really painted a picture. Even if that picture was of witches and wizards and other magic beings, I was entertained. That's what I found with the books I read this summer, I was always entertained. Sometimes the books were funny, some sad, some so riveting that (as cliche as it may be) I couldn't put it down. As long as the reading can hold my attention and prove that it is worth my time to sit and turn the pages, I am all for it!

My sister is an avid reader. She will read absolutely anything that falls into her lap. She is an English major at Gonzaga, so I suppose she uses that side of her brain a bit more than I do! She has always been a reader, which clearly differs significantly from my experiences with reading. She reads for pleasure, for school, for just about every reason you can come up with. Also, she reads/has read just about every genre. She really enjoys reading her friends' work and editing and revising it.
My boyfriend has a very pinpointed interest when it comes to reading. He enjoys athletics and working on cars, so he subscribes to just about every car and fitness magazine available. He has piles of magazines that he reads religiously for tips and techniques to assist him in his hobbies. I read magazines rarely and admittedly, they are usually the trashy tabloid magazines. I doubt I would be very interested in reading magazine article after magazine article, even if it catered to my interests. I like to be entertained while I read, rather than reading for extending knowledge.
My father is what I would call an average reader. He starts a book or two at a time and reads a few chapters a night before bed. He prefers fiction novels (Clive Cussler, I believe?) and western themed books. He always "has a book going" as he says, which is also different from my preferences to reading. Once I start something, including a book, I like to get it finished as soon as possible. He is perfectly content with a few chapters here and there and spending weeks finishing a book.