Literacy Autobiography

When I think about my self through literacy I instantly think of my younger years but not young enough in learning to read but young enough to remember the chapter books in 4/5^th grade. Who I was as a reader is unclear in my memory. However who I am as a reader today is littler easier to understand. Today I am a visual learning who best understands things through example and action. As a person I struggle with wanting to do my work the best way it has to be done but has a hard time not giving up when I am unsuccessful. This is how I am when it comes to reading and writing and I believe I am this way because of certain teachers and professors that shaped how my confidence is today.

Starting with writing the earliest I can remember about it is in 4^th grade with spelling words. We were required to write each one ten times and when we got one wrong on a test we had to write them even more. Then in 5^th grade I gained a little confidence when I wrote a poem for a homework assignment that my teacher submitted in a contest with me not knowing. The outcome, I won and was published in a poetry book and at the time that was huge for me and I felt these amazing feel of confidence in my writing. After that I wrote continually all year stories, poems and plays. Then entering middle school I had a serious of English teachers who fit the stereotype. They were older, mean, and hammered grammar lessons into us each day. It was then that I began to push away from writing after being told my stories were not good because the grammar was incorrect that it took away from the story. Then in high school we did little to no writing. The longest paper I wrote was for my senior research paper, which my teacher ended up writing most of when he would help. Then came college the biggest shock of my life. My freshmen year I was in a WRA class that changed my outlook on writing forever. I would write a paper for her go to the writing workshop have many people go over before I handed it in. Every time she would give me a failing grade and would put me down every time I meet with her. At the end of the year when I meet with her for the last time she left me by saying “College is not for everybody. Maybe you should think of other options.” This devastated me and changed my confidence of writing for the remainder of college.

Today, I love to read honestly. The problem comes with finding the time to read the books you enjoy on top of the hours of textbook reading a night. The earliest I can remember reading is about 4^th grade with D.E.A.R. We would sit on the carpet and read our favorite books. Throughout middle school I was always big into historical fiction books. I loved DEAR AMERICA series and Little House of the Prairie just to name a few. One way the schools tried to get us to read more was through Accelerated Reader. Here we would get points for each book after being tested on them. I remember a time or two when I cheated and tried being tested on a book I never read but saw the movie. This is what a lot of students did and could be the problem in the program. I have no memory of certain teachers influencing me in reading but I do know that my stepmother today continues to influence me as she brings home new novels everyday.