Anthony Calvo

Screens: A Guide to Literacy

The grey green clunky device lights up as I slide the switch to the on
position. Black and white pixels quickly illuminate the screen while
simultaneously a digital melody begins to play. I see a big inviting title atop of the
screen and two inviting adventurous characters. My fingers continue clicking
buttons until I find my self forced to make multiple decisions based upon words I
cant read or understand. As I went through the game I started learning words
that corresponded with certain actions. As I passed through village and
wilderness words came to the top of the screen like P-a-ll-e-t T- ow-n and R-oute 106.
I continued walking and all of a sudden the screen circled black and white
while an enthusiastic yet daunting sound rung from the device. Another character
slid up the screen along with words. I didn't know what they meant, but I noticed
the word battle followed by exclamation marks. I was then given a series of
options: run, bag, and fight. I chose fight, praying it was the correct option. Then
there was just one option, tackle. I selected it and was shocked to see my
character glide across the screen before abruptly clashing with the pixels that
composed the other character. I did this repeatedly not knowing what was
happening, but by the end some words appeared on the bottom of the screen. I
slowly sounded them out: you have one the battle.
I met another character with a exclamation mark upon his head, but this
time I didn't feel scared. I felt a rush of adventurous excitement. This time when
words came upon the bottom I recognized run, fight, and battle. As I went
through battle after battle I came to reach an understanding for these words. At
that very point I essentially began a journey. Not the one with Pokemon that
ended around the third grade, or one with video games. I began a journey with
screens and literacy. The words guided me through the game as the game
guided me through the words.
Eventually I got older, more mature, and entered middle school. The first
day of school there was a bunch of unfamiliar faces and new intimidating
classes. Among these was English, I always preferred math. During the class,
the teacher announces that every two weeks we would be required to write a
timed essay on the computer. The entire class put on a face of discontent and
fear. Despite the communal reaction I couldn't help, but be excited. Screens had
always meant the words were to be enjoyed. After a few days we went into the
computer lab and the same screens that had once been so friendly were now my
greatest threat. As I sat down in my desk everyone was bickering over sitting in
seats with good computers, and keyboards. The teacher navigated everyone to
the website and then as the time clicked down she began counting down.
the teacher started at "5"
"4"

Sweat drops beaded down everyones face as they stared blankly into the screen.
"3"
Pencils clicked up and down.
"2"
Everyones legs started shaking.
"1"
People readied their fingers on the key board.
"Begin"
Then a timer started counting down at the top right of our screen. A question
appeared and everyone one immediately started typing as if they had already
known the prompt. I read the prompt multiple times and simply could not
determine what to write about. I cant remember exactly what the prompt was,
but it had to do with the life stories of at least two saints. I had always heard of
different saints names, but never learned about their stories. I continually kept
thinking about the clock slowly ticking down second by second. This wasn't what
I had hoped for. The words were threatening. I looked around the room blankly
staring at the other students typing and thinking. Whenever my teacher would
look around to see what everyone was writing I started typing random jumbles of
letters and spaces.
After about thirty, minutes I pieced together random facts like St. Ignatius
got hit by a cannonball and people pray to St. Anthony when they lose things. I
started typing. The other kids looked at me as my typing made loud and abrupt
noises as the keys smashed down with every letter. I felt the time coming down
on top of me. I never looked away and just typed whatever seemed to flow with
my main ideas. I finally stopped and 15 minutes later I had written more than
everyone else. I couldnt help, but make a creepy smile at my screen. I was right
this wasn't the same as the game, it was my own game. It was a different type of
game. The characters didnt come on the screen and the assortment of digital
sounds didn't fill the room. Instead, line by line the world I created on the screen
seemed to enter reality. I could close my eyes and the computer room around me
turned into a world moulded by my words. The students, computers, and clicking
pens all disappeared. The pressure, and fear of a bad grade dissipated. My
writing was born. It felt how I felt and said what I wanted to say. Screens took me
away from associating reading and writing solely with work, they allowed me to
see literacy can be for numerous things from communication to an opportunity for
creativity.