This month I was able to interview Ms. Sanwal, and it was so nice to speak with her. Even though I have never had her as a teacher, through our shared love of books it felt like I was talking with someone I had known for a long time. My experience with these interviews– how they’ve connected me with faculty I never would have spoken to otherwise– really goes to show the true beauty of reading. You can be talking with a person of any age, race, gender, ect, and yet in your shared experience of reading a book, or books in general, you can find a friend.

Ms. Schmidt, in my interview with her, shared with me advice that one of her teachers told her. It was to “look for the readers, because in them you will find your friends.” Reading unites unlike really any other pass time I’ve encountered. The friends you find in and out of books allows you to see outside of your own life, and look into another. I hope in my project, students see that reading, even during a pandemic, finds you new friends and brings you to new worlds or even new worlds to you.