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A Nerdy Boy
I must come clean. I get a little envious of the Nerdy Book Club Reading Life posts which fondly recall in beautiful, vivid detail the reading of books at a very young age. I wish I had that memory, but I don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love books and I love stories, but I was a slow and late reader. Being a stocky, offensive lineman-type kid with a big smile worked wonders for me most of the time, but it did nothing to make sense of the words on the page.
Fortunately, I had parents; teachers and librarians who cared enough to stick with me through my troubles and see me through the long process of becoming a reader. Despite a couple setbacks here and there (like my stubborn-boy refusal in 8th grade English class to even crack open the assigned LITTLE WOMEN), I learned two very valuable lessons through my reading struggles. I learned the value of working hard and I learned that opening a book opens doors to new opportunities. I found if I wanted to learn something new or if I wanted to be or do something; there was a pretty good chance I could find a way to get it done from a book or magazine. Reading became the gateway for the dreams inside my head.
I know I may be preaching to the choir, but READING IS AWESOME. Reading helped me fight the stereotype of the big, dumb jock by providing the essential tool to bury the “dumb” and just be a big jock. Years ago, I was a shot putter. At the end of 9th grade, I wanted to learn the spin technique as I moved up to high school. I thought my body style could generate more power from the spin rather than the traditional glide technique. None of the coaches knew how to teach the spin, so I researched and found a five year old issue of Sports Illustrated featuring the great spin technique pioneer, Brian Oldfield. Using the words and pictures in the article, I taught myself the technique. Reading rocked from that point on. It gave me the confidence to expand my horizons and taught me there were no limits to what I could learn. Today, reading reaches into every nook and cranny of my life as a father, husband, scientist, coach and writer.
Some of the fondest memories of parenting are sitting on the bedroom floor with my three kids reading books at night before bed. The twins, recent high school graduates, and their older college sister had a discussion a few months ago about reading out loud the first three Harry Potter books together on that bedroom floor. Priceless times I would not trade for anything. The Hays family summer vacations to the lake devote more suitcase space to books than to our clothes and other necessities. Reading is one of the threads that have stitched our family together.
My wife is an awesome reading teacher, even when she is not exclusively teaching the subject of Reading. She’s taught middle school, middle grades, elementary, and now she teaches third grade. She has superpower influence over the kicking and screaming reluctant readers who come into her classroom. Kids who are stone-cold frozen to the very idea of reading books leave her room at the end of the year blazing hot readers. I’ve seen the joy in the eyes of these kids and in the faces of their parents as well. You can’t put a price on that.
Reading is an essential part of being a scientist. Science is built on reading and writing; we share information, theories and establish scientific foundations through these skills. Discovery is often a melding of ideas gleaned from several different sources and looked at from fresh perspectives. One of the joys of my science job at the university is the access we are given to libraries and journals in the digital age. Articles and information on virtually anything we are interested in pursuing is a mouse click away.
When I first started as a sports coach, I knew very little about how to coach. I had to devour books on coaching theory, technique and scheme to try and become the best coach I could be. The information is out there, one just has to find it, learn it, and find a way to pass it on to the players. I still do some strength and conditioning coaching, so I read daily in that field. I read articles, newsletters, blogs and research reports to attempt to stay on top of things. I would have been dead in the water as a coach if I failed to include reading in my coach’s arsenal.
I read more than ever now in my author life and I also enjoy reading more. Writing kid lit finds me reading as much kid lit as my time and budget allows. And book research? Can you really call something this much fun and this much a learning experience work? I hope I never get to the point where the research becomes a drag and the reading loses its freshness.
Maybe I started out late as a reader, but I was lucky enough to have people in my life that truly cared enough to help me through the rough patches. The Nerdy Book Club is right up my alley, I am so happy I found this group. I’ve grabbed the NBC button and proudly stand behind it. Thank you to all the members who share books and stories here on the site. The Nerdy Book Club blog email notification in the inbox is something I look forward to every day.
Read on nerdy friends!
Mike Hays is a husband, a father of three, a lifelong Kansan and works as a molecular microbiologist. His debut upper middle grade novel, THEYOUNGERDAYS, was released in March of 2012 by MuseItUp Publishing. Besides writing, he has been a high school strength and conditioning coach, a football coach and a baseball coach.
Nerdy Book Club 
When I was very young, I came across a small volume on microbes and it led me on to the Adult section where I found Paul de Kruif’s wonderful book, “The Microbe Hunters”. I didn’t go into the field, but all these years later I am still fascinated by the subject, all because of a book.
I am glad that you shared your story, and I am glad that you reference the very powerful realm of non-fiction for the young. I wonder how many more youngsters can be influenced by another generation of books that inspire kids to look at pond scum a little more closely. Talk about visiting an alien planet, we have a huge one right here with all the little microscopic creatures all around.
I like the occasional hunt for fossils, especially Foraminifera in the limestone gravel of my driveway. Everybody gets excited about big fossils, but it is the really little ones that make my day.
Mike, I love how we all have different stories to share about how we ended up becoming the readers we did. I was lucky enough to come to this reading life early and only have a few hiccups along the way. I know I have students who are more like you were and your story is one I can share with them – and their parents. Reading IS the gateway to making our dreams realities – it’s not about test scores or reading levels but rather about the inspiration and desire and action that reading brings to life. To be a better athlete. To be a better person. To invent the Next Big Thing or find the cure to cancer.
Thank you so much for sharing…
I love your stories about how you read to teach yourself something. I have a brother who does the same thing. He got a G.E.D from high school, and didn’t go to college, and yet the things he’s taught himself by reading has amazed all of us. He was a buggy driver in the French Quarter in New Orleans for awhile, and when I went to visit, I was amazed with the amount of history he knew. He showed me his stack of history books, and I thought, now this isn’t someone who didn’t want to learn. He just wanted to learn what he needed to know. This helps me a lot when I work with the teen boys in detention. Thanks so much for reminding me of this and sharing your story. Best wishes with your book!
HI Mike! Thanks for sharing so much of your life and personal journey. I loved the part about reading to your kids every night. That’s so important. Happy Memorial Day!
(Laura from YALitChat)