When I was in the 6th grade,
I was two or three grade levels behind my reading level.
And my teacher at the time, she helped me,
she told me that something needed to change.
"You need to read more."
And you know, like, what better place than
the New York Public Library that was open on Saturdays?
And I'd come here, get books.
So we had a summer reading program,
and it was competitive,
and I have a little competitive edge in me.
I ended up reading like over 800 books that summer.
The first thing I thought was like,
"Well, did you really do that?"
And the second part,
I was like, "Well, Khadija, good job!
I'm proud of you, you know."
After I started reading my first book,
I realized that I was diving into everybody else's world,
and I just could not stop.
In a span of six to …
I mean, six months in a year,
I skipped three grade levels of academic reading and writing.
I kept reading throughout high school,
and now I'm currently a senior
at Baruch College studying actuarial science.
And when I started reading I realized that
there are many, many different kinds of people,
and it's OK to be different,
and it's OK to, like, be unique, you know.
Now I appreciate that I'm from Bangladesh
and I have all of these interesting things
that make me who I am.