Karabetian 1

Isabelle Karabetian
Professor Adria
College 01
11 December 2015
Final: College Reading Reflection
Spare Parts was not the most captivating of books, but Ill have to admit it was
comprehended a larger image, a lesson or two about life. The RRJs were time consuming at
first, but once we got into the flow of it, it became a weekly routine that did not take up much of
our time, or mine at least. Oscar Vazquess unique mentality and personality caught my attention,
reminding me of my story. This one character was a fighter, and no not physically, but mentally.
He faced multiple challenges, from barely seeing his father as a child, growing up with the
mentality that he was the man of the house, and several migrations to and from Temosachic to
the United States. By defeating the demons inside, he was able to conquer many of the
challenges he faced growing up. His strength influenced me to push through in college. After
experiencing multiple downfalls as a first year college student, and not enough victories, I
managed to keep my head above the ground and push through. For example, Oscar wanted to
enroll in the army, although he was well aware he would not be given that position due to his
citizenship status, he decided to remain a devoted cadet. Nothing stopped him from giving up. I,
myself encountered may failures in my English class. Although, I put in most of my studying
time for that specific class, I still did not do as well as expected. On the contrary, just like Oscar I
pushed through and did not give, and I do not plan too until the final exam.
In high school, my reading was always well, rarely stuttered, paused for commas, used
emotions, etc. In college though, I realized analyzing the reading was not as simple as I expected.

Karabetian 2
My reading drastically plummeted my first semester of college. The first time I read a section
from my English book, it took me a few hours to comprehend, now it takes up only about an
hour of my time. Several strategies I developed from assignments this semester include;
highlighting key words instead of key sentences, taking side notes on unknown vocabulary
terms, and paraphrasing. My English reading assignments have been the most difficult readings I
have encountered this semester. In order to simplify and better understand the reading, I
highlighted all the important information and focused on better understanding that. It helped
drastically because there is so much reading and each and every reader finds significance and
meaning in different parts. In other words, everyone understands the reading through their
perspective. As an insider, it is somewhat exciting knowing I am not alone and I have people to
turn to when in need. As an outsider though, I feel like those who are ignorant of the benefits for
college reading may assume it is tough, what they have failed to comprehend though, is the
significance of intelligence achieved through multiple hours of paraphrasing and interpreting.