My Literacy Journey

Once I did that, my love for reading began and recently has been coming back after a lost of love for reading. My whole childhood I never enjoyed reading books, all i liked to do was watch tv, play games, go on computer, and play outside. I loved school but every friday my third grade teacher made the students rent out a book from the library. I would just grab any book when i walked in, rent the book and put it in my backpack then sit down and talk to my friends. The next time the book came out was when it was time to return it back to the library.

But nothing compared to the tedious work that I encountered my junior and senior year when I decided to challenge myself by taking AP English courses. Many people said it was just like any other English course with a little extra writing involved; my view was completely different. The AP English class... ... middle of paper ... ...bmit only the best papers. Everything that was learned, taught, and understood in English 1101 has now become a vital part of my educational journey. This english department has given me new insight on reading and writing that I could not obtain in high school; this english department has created a stronger more confident writer in me; this english department has taught me life long lessons that I will cherish now until I walk across that graduation stage.

At a young age my mother told me that I would always need reading and writing. At that time I wouldn’t listen to what she said because I didn’t like to read and definitely didn’t like to write. Through school I only seemed to improve on one of these things and it never seemed to be writing. My journey through elementary school, middle school, and high school has shaped me into the writer that shows today. In elementary school I discovered reading.

As I have grown older, I read dramatically less and reading is more irritating. I hate reading and sometimes get annoyed when I have reading assignments in class. Through the years, there were readings that I was forced to read and did not enjoy. It has turned me off from reading for the most part. I know that reading is something that is important, but I also know that it is something that I hate doing most of the time.

My expectations were that it was going to be a long, boring, and torturous few months trying to digest the material. Overall, I would have to say that I was right, but there were a few stories that surprised me. As an adult, my tastes and interests have changed, and I think that the struggles of the characters in some of the books I read in the past can be equated with the struggles I endured as well. Understanding and Appreciation In high school, I did not appreciate the stories that I was forced to read. I could not see how I could relate to any of the characters I read about.

I haven’t done a lot of writing in the past. However, the writing I have done has just been for my school. I have never liked writing so I kept writing only to what I needed to write for school. But the kinds of writing I have done are reports, autobiographies, and writing about people from history. I never wanted to do my writing assignments like I was supposed to, which didn’t help me learn how to write.

When Richard first got into school he realized reading was one of the main activities in school, so he knew he would be doing a lot of reading throughout school. This was a problem for him, because he had a fear of reading and it didn’t help that as child Richard 's parents only read books to gain knowledge about something such as manuals and newspapers he never saw them "read for pleasure". (Rodriguez pg.227) As school went on he was placed in a remedial class with a nun as the teacher. She helped him to get over his fear of reading alone and this gave him the will to read more and more books. As time

It was only until secondary school that my mother stopped making me spend more time on practicing handwriting. Now with my computer science major, I use laptop a lot, and my handwriting must be even worse than it used to be. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t touched a pen in days, and when I do need to handwrite something, I will feel uncomfortable at first. I used to write journal almost every day. However, that journal is for my English classes so it is more like a task, not a hobby.

In my mind, I never really liked trying to explain in full detail what something meant. Back in high school, my teachers always wanted me to explain my writing in such depth that a kindergartener would understand why Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. Trying to explain my writing was always very tiring. I often would get bored trying to explain and just stop writing and do something else for a while. Most of the time in high school I didn’t like writing.

“I am thrown off my reading game when forced to read to fast,” wrote Thomas Newkirk author of The Art of Slow Reading. No matter where I was I didn’t like having to read on a time period; it was always a lot of pressure on me. It was either my mom or teachers rushing me to read. But over time, I started to accept the pressure. As I look back in my life, I realize my reading experiences have had an impact on my life.