IN THEIR OWN WORDS...

I wanted to work on my reading skills to become an efficient reader for the ACT as well as for college. Active reading, graphic organizers, study skills, and ACT prep are mainly the strategies that helped me the most. The strategies helped me better organize my thoughts and actually helped me to comprehend what I was reading, which boosted my confidence on my essays in college. The strategies helped me better prepare for the ACT and college essays, as well as just regular homework. It helped me organize what my thoughts were and the reading text for the essays and homework.

—K.G., 21, college junior

Being in college preparatory classes pushed me to utilize any and all skills for reading comprehension. Annotating and using graphic organizers helped me the most. Annotating is what helped me study efficiently in college. They [the strategies I learned] definitely helped me with college work and the ACT. These techniques allowed me to weed out the most important information and to not get overwhelmed by the course load thrown at me while studying in college.

—M.C., 27, professional

I started working on my reading skills because I would read the material, but I would not fully comprehend it at face value. My memory and retention skills are not as strong as I would like due to my ADHD. In order to properly digest the material, I had to go beyond just reading the material and really go in depth through my own means to actually comprehend what I was reading. Active reading made me rethink my approach to reading entirely and it’s how I approach anything of interest now. I engage with the material more by trying to extract the most important points and upon re-read, fully appreciating the content in its entirety. My main objective is to be able to summarize what I read either to someone else or to myself in order to properly understand what I took in. This has also helped me tremendously with college-level work, especially when it comes to writing essays. Note taking also really helped with my approach to essays because everything I write down builds the skeleton of my final draft and eases the process while still making me engage with the reading. Lastly, ACT prep really helped to build a skill of being able to extract the most important points upon first read. This was especially helpful in the context of the test because of its time-sensitivity.

—R.H., 25, post-graduate student

What would you say to another learner who is thinking about working with Melanie?

Ms. Mills was my teacher for the four years I was in high school. She made me better academically as well as a person in general. She helped me excel in my writings and essays, and she helped me comprehend and read better. She is an excellent and compassionate teacher who truly believes in her students. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Ms. Mills.

—K.G.

Do it! Ms. Mills is passionate for learning and thorough in everything she does. She won't give up on you and will push you to reach your full potential.

—M.C.

Reading isn’t just looking at words on the text, it’s about understanding what you read. Comprehension is just as important because it’s how you truly learn something new because it will stick with you. You can never be bad at reading because it’s not something we’re born with, it’s a skill that can be improved just like riding a bike or a sport. Any approach that helps you is the right one, don’t be afraid to do what works best for you. Most importantly, you don’t have to stop reading after school! It’s just as important to build new skills, understanding the world as it changes, and even simply just engaging with your interests whether it’s about sports, video games, movies, etc.

—R.H.