My Personal Literacy Journey – Lyndsay Hirsche

When I think back on my personal literacy journey, I can remember four specific stages

of my life that had the most considerable impact on what kind of person I am today. Reading has

always been a large part of my life, something that has taken up a significant number of hours,

dollars, and space. Pondering this was relatively simple; I can recall in detail almost every book

I’ve ever devoured, and every series that I begged my mom to purchase. I can still remember

exactly when and why I stopped reading, and when I eagerly picked it back up again. For this

assignment, I have broken up my literacy journey into four specific sections. I will express each

stage through a descriptive narrative of the period, as I feel this is the best way to represent just

how vivid my memories are. These descriptions will be accompanied by a collage of photos that

invoke the thoughts and feelings I had during these periods of my life. I choose to write this

assignment with vulnerability and expression in hopes that you will find a deeper understanding

of who I am through these words.

When I was in first grade, I told my mom that I wanted to start reading my own books.

She had been reading to me for as long as I could remember. My grandfather had even built me

my very own bookshelf that was set up in my room. It was stocked to the brim with what mom

called “my own personal library,” and I was itching to crack them open and decipher the words

myself. I would sit there for hours, and Mom would help me sound out the words slowly. I didn’t

pick it up quickly, though. My teacher started to worry about my lack of progress and my

tendency to turn to picture books. Upon hearing this, my parents came home with a leap pad. It

was designed to aid my reading and get me back up to grade level, and I was determined. I
would sit myself down at our old oak kitchen table with my pencil case and rosy cheeks and use

my leap pad until the battery died only to be promptly replaced by Mom. I look back on this time

fondly. I was so determined and impressionable. It made for excellent character building, and I

credit my current work ethic back to these moments of my life.

Fast forward to sixth grade, and I had moved on from leap pads and picture books to any

teen fiction I could get my hands on. Chapters became my new favourite store, and I would leave

with a stack of books bigger than I could carry every time I got to go. I would stay up late under

my fluffy covers with my flashlight turning pages. I would get up early every morning and fill

my journal with page and page of nonsensical poems, drawings, and passages about my life. I

was reading and writing like I was running out of time to do so. I would pack 2 or 3 of the books

I was working on and bring them to class with me. Sneakily under my desk, I flipped through

them when I was supposed to be more focused on math homework. I burned through the series

and had taken a particular liking to mystery novels. My thirst for more was insatiable, and there

were many nights my mom would scold me for staying up too late. “Just one more chapter,”

became my catchphrase. All my friends at school had taken the same interest in reading, and at

lunch, we would sit and discuss whatever we were currently reading. The social aspect of

reading became something that I looked forward to every day.

Unfortunately, not every story is linear, and although I had a passion for reading and

writing up until about 9th grade, it quickly trickled out once I got into high school. No longer

was I staying up late to read and journal. I was much more focused on making friends, my
dramatic emotions, and fitting in. I was angry with the way I was discovering the world. People

were dying, injustices remained unnoticed, and I felt skeptical of the world as a whole. This was

a hard time in my life. I felt like the world was out to get me, and my childhood innocence was

being swiped from under me. I was overly analytical, so fiction works didn’t seem to be

something I cared to indulge in anymore. I would wake up late, with bloodshot eyes, sip on the

most robust coffee I could drink, and try to get through the school day. My books were gathering

dust, and my only form of escapism was music. When I was writing, it was slam poetry. I am

grateful that this is a hobby I have managed to maintain into my adult years and the solace that it

gave me during my teenage years. I don’t think this part of my story is overly unique. Whenever

I speak to my friends about when they lost their reading fever, it is also around this time. As a

teacher, I hope to help students find and foster their spark for learning.

In my third year of university, I felt the itch to pick up a book again that wasn’t academic.

I enjoyed reading much more than before, but everything I was reading was purely educational,

which was becoming monotonous. I went to my local bookstore in Lethbridge. This place is the

tiniest hole in the wall you’ll ever see. The store has the main area in the front and then four

rooms down a skinny hallway towards the back. If you’ve spent enough time here exploring, the

shopkeeper might even unlock the door to the basement for you, which is where the real

treasures are found. My first visit here was followed by three more the following days, and I

came home with the largest stack of books you have ever seen. I was determined to get it right

this time and find a hobby that would keep me away from screens, social media and the news. I

wanted effective escapism, and this was going to be the way I achieved it. I would return home
from class to my messy room covered in my new books, throw on a hoodie, play some lo-fi

music, and dial in. It was hard at first. I had to treat reading like school to get back into it.

I feel I used to view every journey, big or small, as a linear process. You would start

something, continue doing it, practice and practice and keep getting better and better. It simply is

not this way with anything we experience. My journey is jagged, harsh, bright, and circular. All

of which my six-year-old self would never imagine describing my life as. This small snippet of

my life is so much more complicated than I can even comprehend and entirely representative of

the person I was and am becoming. Some of my personality traits have been entirely and

purposefully mimicked from my favourite book characters. I am grateful for this journey, and

look forward to its future.

 The Writing Process – My Personal Literacy Journey

My writing process was standard regarding how it was described in the textbook. I began

with the pre-writing phase. As a child, I used to loathe this part because I felt that my most

creative writing happened when I did free writes. As an adult, I am much more structured, and I

stick to similar methods for almost every assignment regardless of whether it’s aesthetic or

efferent. I find that “brainstorming” in jot notes, doodles, and other quick ways to get my

information down is the most effective for me. I usually try to break up what I’m writing into

more digestible chunks to keep my thoughts in a consistent order. After this, I discussed my

project with a peer and made the necessary revisions.

After the pre-write, I begin the drafting process. I chose to explore a personal essay

format because I felt it best expressed my ideas. I wrote in the third person to personalize my

work. Within the text, I tried to use as many descriptors as possible to immerse the reader in my

experience.

Once I had completed my first draft, I revised a few parts. Some of my writing was

coming across as too formal, so I incorporated more colloquial vocabulary into my revisions.

Once these were in place, I felt that my work better engaged my audience. I also added number

labels to the paragraphs that corresponded with the appropriate collage as it seemed confusing to

navigate.

For editing, I read my own work and try to catch as many errors as possible and then pass

it on to my roommate in hopes that she sees what I haven’t. I have notorious grammar issues, so

I run all my papers through a program called Grammarly to be extra cautious. Once this is

completed, and I feel confident in my work, I will hand it in to be assessed.