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Cameron Marashi
Victoria Hamby
UWRT 1101 Sec19
10 September 2014
Literacy Narrative Assignment
Literacy to me was that friend that was the coolest when you were little but as you grew
up you started to see that your coolest friend ever was actually an annoying backstabber.
When I was growing up, I loved to read. I read all the time, thanks to my mom, who required me
to read. I enjoyed it as a leisurely activity, but as I grew older, reading and writing became more
and more of a chore and I began to care less about reading and writing until I eventually began to
dislike everything about it. English was always more difficult for me than the rest of my
classmates, but even then I still enjoyed it. There were many things that eventually ruined
English for me; from bad teachers, to horrible books. But over time, experience, perseverance,
and the aid of medication, I learned to enjoy English again. Despite my previous discontent for
English, I now understand the benefits that English provides and I still work hard to receive
those benefits from being literate. If a writer is eloquent in his works such as speeches and
papers they appear much more credible regardless of my own opinion of the skill.
When I still enjoyed reading, I would always check out books from the library and read
as many as I could. Little did I know that examining a diagram of the human body or reading
about what it would be like on Jupiter didnt constitute as proper reading in my teachers eyes.
To my teachers, 5th graders should be reading The Midwife's Apprentice by Karren Cushman.

English at this point was never too difficult for me to grasp, but I had yet experienced a book like
this. I dont even recall what that book was about. All I know was that it was by far the worst
book of all time and even now that book fills me with disgust. I remember being excited to be a
5th grader, ready to start my year as a big kid, so I was excited to read this book like all the big
kids did. However, moments after reading the first page my delusion came crashing down. This
book was terrible, stupid, and pointless. I questioned to myself why would a book like this even
existed. I eventually read the whole book, but it was horrible and I felt as though I was being
punished. What I hated most about The Midwife's Apprentice by Karren Cushman was that it
was the start of all the school required readings to change from cute and simple books to what
the teachers called the classics; dry old books that I wasnt ready to appreciate and I will
probably never appreciate them. It also was the turning point for me with reading in general.
After that book, I didn't enjoy reading anymore. I came to realize that these books were filled
with people and places I didn't care about. I only cared about reading about the real world, such
as science texts and factual information.
My annoyance with English grew as the years went by. I found no use for English
and rarely tried in class, and later on my teacher only made my hatred for English worse. My 7th
grade English teacher Ms. Kelly was mean, nasty and her general presence made people sad.
There was one class period where she caused an autistic kid cry and then told him to grow up. To
me she was a horrible person and a horrible teacher. Up until her class I had never gotten an F on
anything school related. It wasnt until one day she handed back a spelling test and I felt crushed
when I saw red stained into my paper; a 20/100. I was heartbroken and for the first time in my

life I felt stupid. I had a lump in my throat and was I dumbstruck. Even worse was that I had
actually spelled some words correctly and when I showed her the error, she refused to change it.
From then on I loathed going to English class. I eventually hated going to the class that I gave up
trying. I thought reading and writing skills were unimportant and stupid. I felt this way until my
parent teacher conference that year. Ms. Kelly told my mom how incompetent I was, how I
wouldnt amount to much, and how I wasnt bright. When my mom told me what she said, I got
furious at Ms. Kelly. How dare she tell me what my future would be like and how dare she
assume anything about me when she was clearly out to get me. That anger and hatred for Ms.
Kellys 7th grade English class changed me. No longer did I not read the required reading, no
longer did I fail spelling tests and no longer would I be considered stupid to anyone.
In my fit of rage at Ms. Kelly, I started to practice my reading and writing more often. I
wrote the lines of characters in cartoons that I watched. I started to read everything and I did
everything I could possible to improve my English skills. Every moment of me trying was
dreadful. I had to force myself to read and write. However, although it was awful, I was making
a successful effort to learn the material. Even with my perseverance I still had trouble grasping
what we were learning and using it in class. To make matters worse, Ms. Kelly hated me
personally and every chance she had she would try to correct me, trying to make me look dumb
in front of my peers. She made this blatantly clear one day when she called on me and asked,
Cameron, what is the definition of the root word sub?
This was one of the easier root words so I quickly answered, Sub means under,
Ms. Kelly.

She responded to my answer with her usual tone of arrogance, Sub doesn't mean under
Cameron, it means BENEATH. How on earth did you get that incorrect? Why are you in
Honors? This altercation filled me with rage. My peers even knew I was correct but my answer
wasnt good enough for her. This rage that I experienced every day in her class is what inspired
me to work even harder. Ever since Ms. Kelly made a habit of making me feel stupid, I made
sure to make a habit never get anything less than a B in her class again.
In the summer of 2012, when I was a sophomore in high school, my doctor diagnosed me
with ADHD. It was apparently unseen for the most part because I had impressive study habits.
Yet my mom decided it would be best if I started taking ADHD medication. At first I thought
nothing would change and it didn't even occur to me at the time it could help me with English.
But after that first pill, the door that had forever separated me from enjoying, grasping, and
absorbing language as a whole was blasted off its hinges. Books werent as horrible anymore and
I could finally be sucked into the plot and immerse myself into the story. I didn't dread reading
anymore; it was fun and I could finally understand what was going on in class. For the first time
in years, I enjoyed my English classes. I could finally analyze reading and make intelligent
arguments and ideas from what it was saying. Writing wasnt even as difficult for me anymore.
This was where I started to love reading and where I began to enjoy writing. However, I still find
English class more difficult than the rest of my classes. But still, I could focus and enjoy what
the author had left for me on those pages. That following year we read The Great Gatsby by F.
Scott Fitzgerald and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was one of my favorite books of all time. I dont

stare blankly at books anymore and I can finally process and understand them and I am very
grateful.
The ADHD pills did much for me, but most importantly it helped me rediscover English.
So often people would talk about how they feel as though books transport them to unimaginable
places, and always I passed this off as a fools notion. A book taking you places? Nonsense,
you are right there and its just words on a page. I would often think to myself. But eventually I
began to experience these words rather than glancing at them distastefully. I finally understood
the hype people had expressed about reading. I even discovered writing as an outlet and I didn't
dread English class anymore. Although I am by no means a gifted reader or writer, I finally now
enjoy writing. Making an audience experience my pain or joy is a concept that seemed so
difficult for me to grasp, but now after years it is finally in my reach. Reading about far off
places and about imaginary people no longer seemed like a waste of time, and now I saw the
value and entertainment in reading.
English may never be something that defines who I am and it may not be something that I
will ever be considered good at, but over the years I have learned to enhance my reading and
writing skills and now I am proud to say I am able to read and write better than I have before.
Even now I am still trying to learn all the rules and regulations to writing that I had been naive to
and grasp them for the first time. Trying to repair the damage my own ignorance has not been an
easy feat and learning proper grammar alone has been a particular challenge. I am just glad I
learned that language was never my enemy and over time I have developed a relationship with it
that is healthier than before.