The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the individual experiences of five Poe High School alumni and to understand how these alumni made sense of their experiences with reading while participating in the Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) program. This study employed the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology to illustrate the phenomenon under study. The research question that guided this study was "How do five PHS alumni, who engaged in the Silent Sustained Reading program, make sense of their experience in the program?" The research sub-questions focused on the impact that participating in an SSR program could have, various factors of motivation, and the role that the teacher/student relationship played in the program. The findings of this study suggest several positively impactful elements of the SSR program. These elements were generated from main emergent themes from the interviews with the past participants. The participants of this study explained their experiences and explored with this researcher their perception of the phenomenon. It was evident that each of the participants saw the value in the SSR program and felt that growth, in some shape, took place throughout their participation in the program. The findings outlined common elements of the successful implementation of a SSR program. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]