staff reader of the month

A recent interview with Nagle College’s Leader of Teaching and Learning, Ms Reavey, reveals that making connections through the love of literature is both easy and enjoyable. Having a conversation with Ms Reavey about reading and novels is very insightful, especially considering that we live our separate lives with different interests and hobbies. It is wonderful that we could have a discussion and bond with her over our shared passion for reading.

After talking to Ms Reavey, we uncovered that her love of reading began when she was a little child, way before she had even started school. She told me that when she was young, her father would take her to the library and she would pick out a book even when she was still in her pyjamas. Her dad was a big influence on her, and started to develop. Ms Reavey even shared a memory of a new bookstore opening and her father instructing her to pick out a book. From this, we can learn from her experience that even though some people consider reading as a dying art, we can still save it simply by encouraging the next generations to give reading a chance because it’s worth it.

Ms Reavey particularly enjoys reading crime fiction novels, this is because she enjoys books that are “really different from my everyday life”. She, however, does not enjoy reading science fiction simply because the plots are difficult to relate to. “Reading is lovely because it can take you to places you’ll never get to”. This is so true especially to those who enjoy reading and experience being taken to many places that we have either never heard of or will never dare to go.

Ms Reavey is currently reading The Widows of Malabar Hills by Sujata Massey. She says the novel isn’t appealing, and when this happens, she stops reading the book and moves onto the next one. “Life is too short to spend on reading books you don’t like,'' she says.

Ms Reavey particularly admires novels as they are wonderful and endless sources of knowledge for anyone willing to read them. They are informative, thrilling, educational and entertaining, it all depends on the mind-set of those reading them. I thank Ms Reavey for taking the time out of her incredibly busy schedule to have a chat with me about reading. It was an enriching experience and congratulations to her for being the Staff Reader of the Month.

-by Aman Chahal, Year 10

5 June 2019