42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

i met hector trejo monday night in the provo library. i'll meet with him 3 hours a week for the next 6 months or so, preparing lesson plans to help him learn english. he's been in the states for about 5 years now. while on his mission to provo several years ago, his mother passed away. his dad passed away when he was 5. he supports himself entirely and can't afford school right now. most of his friends are learning english through byu, and he's been embarrassed that he can't read or write in english. we set a couple goals and picked out "a taste of blackberries" for him to read while i'm gone for the holidays. if he finishes it, it will be the first book he's ever read in english or spanish.

wow. to an english major, that's huge. i was able to conceal my shock (see previous post about my acting talents) and simply say, "well great! let's get your first book read!" i never thought i'd be helping a man in his late twenties read his first book, even if it is a book on the fourth grade reading level. did he never attend fourth grade? man... life without having ever internalized a story the way you do when you read a book at your own pace and to yourself, alone with the thoughts created from the words on the page. i think if you took books out of my life, i would be a considerably different person.

so here's to changing hector's life.