Considering all my previous intellectual experience and academic accomplishments, I would probably single out the one that would seem strangely unimportant. However, for me, mastering exactly this skill opened the whole new world of information. If I had to choose my most important academic achievement, I would choose mastering the skill of reading.
When I was five, I got interested in letters and my grandpa taught me the alphabet and showed the way the letters can form words. Since that time, reading has been one of the most important activities in my life, which combined completely different functions. It has been a wonderful relaxation after a stressful working day. It has been the tool and the means of learning, giving me access to the treasury of the human knowledge, information and wisdom. It also developed my imagination while I was trying to picture in my head what I was reading about. Reading is a basic receptive skill, and only when one has mastered it completely, can writing (as its productive counterpart) be studied and practiced. Reading also enabled me to finish my school education with excellent results. It enriched my vocabulary and made my speech fluent.
So, being one of the simplest skills, reading for me was extremely important and provided me with certain abilities, which I could have never imagined to be done. Its educational, cultural and working application can definitely help in the working process. However, reading is also a lot of fun which can provide an enjoyable pastime activity. So, what for the majority of people can seem to be a really small step, for me was a huge leap into the real world.