By Claire Hong

 ”Did she get hit by the car yet?” Melissa Flores ’12 asked as she walked into class. Her first period English class had just started reading “The Great Gatsby,” but as usual, Flores was already ahead of the reading assignment.

“My whole class turned and was like ‘What? Who got hit by a car?’ and I realized our class hadn’t read that night’s assignment yet,” Flores said.

For Flores, she finds it easier to finish a whole week’s worth of reading assignments during the weekend before or to just finish the book whenever she has time.

“I like to read my English books over the weekend because I need the time I would spend reading the books during the week to do my other homework,” she said. “I also get really absorbed into the books, so usually books like “The Great Gatsby” I just can’t put down.”

Other than occasionally giving away an event that happens later on in the book, Flores only sees one other drawback to reading in advance, which are the weekly reading quizzes.

“Sometimes the details get muddled as the week progresses, and the time between when I read the book and a reading quiz happens increases. The smaller events become more vague,” Flores said.

Josh Ha ’12 also believes reading the English books in advance is beneficial, though unlike Flores, he first reads all of them over the summer so he feels prepared when the school year starts. He first began reviewing school material during the summer of his sophomore year.

“I read the English books so I can get a feel for them before I have to analyze them in class,” Ha said.

Once school starts, however, Ha reads each English book again, keeping up with the nightly reading assignments.

“I read them more analytically during the school year,” Ha said. “I try to think of overarching themes and apply what we’ve learned in class discussions to the books when I read at home.”

Many students try to find the time to read other books outside the school curriculum.

Flores loves to read in order to expand her knowledge and interest in writing although she has had fewer opportunities to read as her schedule continually becomes busier each year.

“[Reading] exposes me to different ways of thinking and different genres and styles, and I can take those styles and apply them to my own writing,” she said. “This year, it’s been very difficult to find time to read books, but I still try and fit in smaller things like poetry rather than actual novels.”

Despite her limited time, Tate Castro ’13 still manages to find time to read most nights during the school year. She reads an average of three books every week.

To maximize the amount of time she can spend reading, she carries a Barnes & Noble Nook wherever she goes.

“I do find that sometimes as the year goes on, I don’t have as much time to read, but I have a Nook so I take it everywhere I go so I can read whenever I have time to, like on the bus to games or during frees,” she said. “I’ve always liked to read, and it’s a good way for me to relax after school.”