Slickery

Growing up I had a minor hatred towards Oral Language Competitions since my literacy
skills were insufficient. My reading pace was ranked as average. Meanwhile, the rest of the
other kids were skidding across words making it sound as if it were fluent gibberish. Inside, I felt
humiliated because the children around me made it seem like their monologues was on the back
of their hands. Then there was me spending five minutes to enunciate the word slickery. It was
until my third grade year where my dislike for poetry and memorization shifted gears and I
became very fond of it. I remember my best friend and I had rehearsed duo monologues over and
over so that we can win the big prize the school had promised to the top three winners. Sure
enough all the dedicated time into practicing our monologue had paid off when our name was
announced through the intercom as first place winners. When I received my reward I was
discombobulated. It was a blocky 4,000 page dictionary. What was even more strange was when
I found myself bored I would entertain myself highlighting and looking up unfamiliar words
throughout the thick book of thousands of words. After this moment on, my strength in reading
and writing increased where I no longer struggled to read three syllable words. Along my
journey my sponsors of literacy, surroundings, and rigorous class courses has sculpted my
knowledge in the field of English which lead me to be the first in my family to attend a
University away from home.
Throughout my youth I would surround myself with people who grew up with spanish as
their first language. It was something normal because in my small about 80 percent of the
population was hispanic. This is where the birth of Spanglish came into my life. Author Gloria
Anzaldua would say, And our tongues have become dry the wilderness has dried out our
tongues and we have forgotten speech (2). I could relate to her logical thoughts because instead
of choosing to be fluent between one of the two I established a malformed dialect picked up from
my friends from elementary school. This alteration challenged me academically because in the
english field they do not appreciate colloquial/informal work. However, since I had an older
brother and sister (my first sponsors of literacy) they spoke to me in English giving me a benefit
which they did not have.
Another main contribution factor which lead me to face scholastic challenges, throughout
my youth, was making the decision of picking illustration books instead of educational novels. I
sort of wished my parents were like those mentioned in Deborah Brandts article where in the
20th century protestant families claimed that writing was viewed as a crucial instruction where it
should be exposed to their children in or order to have an upward mobility in society (Brandt
47). The difference between my parents and the 20th century pair was that in my household if
any kind of book, including the ones for coloring, was in my hand they would go on about with
their day. Whereas, the 20th century families began intense riots if their demands were not
satisfied. I do not blame my parents for not knowing what would have benefitted me quicker, but
my situation is similar to that of Doras in Brandts article. It took Dora a couple of obstacles to
attend her dream university since her sponsors of literacy only spoke to her in spanish growing
up.
Now, in highschool, less and less obstacles came my way for my maturity had made me
realize that academics is only going to get tougher as my years of education go on by. It also
came to my understanding that public high schools do not offer the best programs for their
students resulting in the lack of preparation for college. Still I had taken the small opportunities
in enrolling myself into advanced placement courses. It was not until my senior until I began to
get a blurry glimpse of what to expect as a college reader and writer and that was Advanced
Placement Literature. I like how Anne Lamott had stated, Even after Id been doing this for
years, panic would set in. Id try to write a lead, but instead Id write a couple of dreadful
sentences, xx them out, try again(529). This quote signifies how it took me many tries and a
lot of redos to be able to write effectively and fluently to an audience. Through these
experiences I have learned and became more knowledgeable even when coming across the
horrific reviews (difficult to read) about Shakespeare. Now that took me back to the nightmare I
faced back in my elementary days where I struggled to read the simple three syllable words. I
thought to myself, boy, what am I getting myself into? But, luckily I chained my foot to the
desk and remained in that course where I read books such as, Frankenstein, Death of a
Salesman, Brave New World, A Dolls House, and The Namesake. Throughout the year I
began to think complex and beyond the authors message. We studied and critiqued the authors
structure of writing and pointing out the literary devices s/he had used throughout their book.
As the years went on my reading and writing skills became so sharp that I was confident
to have professional conversations with adults as well as, getting interviewed with the main
director for jobs, and holding a representative job. If the beginning of my life could be described
by words the perfect words would come from Lamott, the first draft is the childs draft(528). I
have been through so many shitty drafts, but it was the sponsors of literacy and my community
who helped me grow to have professional interviews, have suitable writings, and being able to
understand an authors complex work. On top of that, I have befriended the Oral Language
Competitions. It is too bad I am old for them now.