Senior and Editorial Editor Sarah Smith joined “The Rosette” Newspaper this year because Ms. Sidhu threatened to cry if she didn’t. But also because Smith has a passion for writing. If you were to describe Smith in one word it would be adventurous. For example, this summer, Smith left their bedroom a grand total of five times – a new record! Smith’s special interests include making fun of underclassmen, bothering her siblings, and stuttering around attractive women. One thing Smith hopes to achieve this year is successfully putting a restraining order against News Editor, Kenneth Benard Jordan.
Booking it to Brilliance: Smith’s love for reading and its impact on her life
Reported by: Christian Gonzales
Inside of her bedroom there is absolute silence, only the sound of pages turning. However there’s still passionate conversations and interesting conflicts happening, all contained in the pages of her book. The knowledge and the lessons they give makes the pages glow, captivating the reader and preparing her to make a difference.
Senior Sarah Smith discusses the importance of reading and its impact on her life.
In the Summer of 2022, Smith suddenly gained the aspiration to be exceptional and to achieve this through literature
“I wanted to be a genius,” Smith said, “so I started going to all these book halls and the more I got into books I never touched, I realized that reading isn’t just learning pure facts but exploring new stories and characters and it made me genuinely fall in love with reading“
Reading various literatures like memoirs, essays and historical fiction, Smith realized the importance of characters to the appeal of the novel.
“I feel like having actual people or realistic stories makes the people seem real to me” Smith said, “especially with memoirs cause those are real people but historical fiction as well it really helps humanize the people of the past”.
Smith argues that one of the most vital elements is the characters and their growth throughout the story.
“A book that focuses primarily on the people that are in it instead of the plot.” Smith said “Literature that is just fueled by the plot will never be truly interesting because you need to have the human aspect for anything to be fascinating.”
Sarah appreciates how literature is a reflection of life, and encourages others to understand and empathize with other people’s struggles
“Reading give people the knowledge that allows for change,” Smith said,” It gives perspective that allows us to see different ways people interact and allows us to create a better future for our world”
Smith’s favorite novel is “Human Ax”, by Hang Kang. Smith believes the book spreads the message of empathizing with others, and hopes people take that message to heart.
“It’s a historical fiction and a memoir put together, set in South Korea in the 80’s.” Smith said. “It just really puts human suffering, human love, human emotion, human connection into just such a beautiful perspective it’s just really a beautiful book.”
These novels leave large impressions and give inspiration to Smith, they motivate her to write her own historical fictions.
“The bravery of the past really inspires me.” Smith said. “Seeing people through history being strong and courageous has made me want to create a world in which those characters really come alive.”
Smith’s future aspiration is to become a lawyer and is thankful for the skills she gained while reading
“The books I’m going to read for being a lawyer probably won’t be fun,” Smith said. “but since I have to mentally work to read nonfictions, it’ll definitely help getting through reading the textbooks and retaining their information”
Smith says that her path to becoming a genius is still far from over, however the emotions and experiences all the novels have provided her are truly irreplaceable.
