Beyond the Book: Golden by Jessi Kirby


This bookish feature is an original by me! I had the epiphany for this the other day when I was writing out my 15 bookish confessions. (See #7) A lot of times I like to go "beyond the book" and do something that will connect me with the book and characters a little more. This will pop up on Mondays! Be on the look out for which books caught my eye and made me go "beyond" just reading it!  

Golden
This Beyond the Book post is dedicated to Golden by Jessi Kirby!

      In this book, the main character Parker is a student assistant to her English teacher. This particular teacher gives his senior students the same assignment every year. He writes one quote on the board and they have to write in their journals their responses. They have the entire year to do this and at the end of the year he collects them, seals them, and keeps them for ten years. He then mails them out to where ever the student is now staying so they can see if they are doing exactly what they said or if their plans changed. So, I felt like I should share the quote that inspired this post!
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?” 
     This book made me think about my life soooo much. It made me realize that I'm almost 25 and I have only accomplished a fraction of the things I want to do with my life.  Like graduate from college, start my master's program, and find the love of my life. It also made me realize that tomorrow is NOT promised and that I don't have any reason to be waiting on anything. So, here are my plans for the rest of "my one wild and precious life."
     When I was just a 4 year old I somehow taught myself to read. As I got older, I kept my head in a book. I blame it solely on my mother because she read to me every night before I went to sleep as well as whenever I just wanted to be near her. 
One day she had a conversation with me asking me what it is I wanted to be when I grew up. I told her I wanted to be the first female President (yeah right lol) and a Librarian. One thing I can say is that I've made it my life's goal to become one of those.
    I believe I was six when I said that and now here it is almost 19 years later and I'm doing exactly what I said I'd be doing. All with thanks to the woman who put reading into my life in the first place. Because of her I am living out my dreams and I thank God for her each day.  That she never stopped believing in me. And never said "I don't want to hear about your bookish problems or library school problems today." She always took them with a grain of salt, helped me through them, and then asked me about what book I was currently reading or waiting on. 
     So, with that being said, I plan to be a Children's/Young Adult Librarian. One of the best that's ever been known lol I want to be to a child/teen what my mom was to me as a child.
Someone that they can share reading with and learn to love it when everyone else around them is calling it dumb or stupid. I want them to know that its ok to love the written word. It sets them apart from everyone else. 
     The one thing that I mostly want to do with "my one wild and precious life" is to help the falling literacy rate in the US. I want to be that person that gets reading back to being classified as "cool." It hurts my heart when I see people struggling to read, no matter how old they are. I feel in becoming a Children's/YA Librarian I can help to instill the importance of reading in them at a young age and help their love for it mature as they do. 
     With me only being 24, I feel like I'm right on time with everything. I've made amazing choices like: joining a sorority, finishing my first round of college, beginning my journey in secondary college, and finding the man of my dreams. The only thing I'm waiting on is the finishing touches to my journey: finding a job in my career field, making a humongous difference in said career, marriage, and kids. Kids whom I can share my love of reading and books with like my mother did with me!  
     In my review for Golden, I said "life is short so what do you plan on doing with yours NOW" and I am still standing firmly behind that statement. As another one of my favorite quotes goes, "there is no time like the present."
So, what do YOU plan on doing with your one, wild, and precious life?
Have you ever had such a connection with a book that you had to go beyond just reading it? 
Join me on Mondays with Beyond the Book! 

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