Nikki Meyer

Professor McKool
Literacy Autobiography

“If she doesn’t learn the alphabet, Nicole will be held back in Kindergarten”, Mrs.

Leonard said to my mother during their parent teacher conference. That night my mother

came home and informed me about the possibility of being held back. I was disappointed

and upset since I wanted to advance to the first grade with the rest of my class, but that

meant that I had to work hard and really concentrate. Years later I have come to realize

that the reason why I was so stubborn to learn the alphabet was because of my

kindergarten teacher. Mrs. Leonard was never patient with me when it came to learning

the alphabet and learning how to read. Due to her lack of patience, and belief in me, it

caused me to stop trying and believing in myself.

Even though I managed to pass Kindergarten, first grade was an even bigger

obstacle with yet another impatient, easily angered teacher. Due to my inability to read

well, some other students and myself were pulled from the class and brought into another

room where we were given more attention and help learning how to read. It felt good to

know that I wasn’t the only one who struggled with reading and the other students and I

started to form friendships. I felt at home with these students, but I was quickly pulled

back into reality when I returned to my first grade classroom. The other students started

making fun of me because I was pulled from the classroom for additional help.

It was bitter sweet going to school everyday because I could spend time with

friends who understood what I was going through but at the same time I got ridiculed for

being different by my other peers. My first grade teacher wasn’t very helpful with my

learning disability either, she would constantly get annoyed when I asked multiple
questions about a reading assignment and she seemed to have given up on me all

together. I started to wonder if I would ever learn how to read, fit in with the other

students, and make my teacher proud.

In second grade, I was placed into a classroom where the entire class had

complications with reading. I felt comfortable in this classroom now that I had a more

patient teacher and students that displayed similar characteristics in reading. Even

though I felt content, one day in particular made me relive my traumatic first grade

experience. It was around Easter time and the class was given a writing assignment to

tell a story about either a bunny or a chick. I chose to write about a chick and I was

confident with my work, I had fun doing the assignment and was eager to take it up to my

teacher to proofread.

My teacher started reading my paper; I stared at her anticipating her praise for a

job well done, when in fact she did the exact opposite. My teacher jumped from her

chair, quickly grabbing the attention of the class as she screamed to the students about

proofreading carefully. She started yelling about misspelling simple words like chick and

how there was no excuse for it. Turns out I had misspelled the word chick and wrote

chich instead, it was apparent to the class who she was referring to since I was the one

who was being proofread by her.

Everyone started staring at me and whispering about my spelling error and

without finishing proofreading my paper my teacher sternly told me to go back to my

seat. For the first three years of my elementary school experience, I was labeled as the

dumb student; I put up with numerous students making fun of me and teachers who were

impatient and had easily given up on me. It was because of these experiences that I hated
reading, I never willingly read a book for fun and whenever a book report was assigned

in class, I cringed at the thought of reading it.

To this day I still dislike reading, but despite my earlier experiences with writing,

I became highly skilled at English. Throughout my entire elementary school and high

school career I never received a grade below an A in English. I became confident with

my writing abilities and wrote well-constructed papers, but continued to hate reading.

When I was assigned to do a book report or read from the textbook for homework, I

would always skim the book and pull out key points that I thought were relevant and base

the assignment off that. I knew what I was doing was wrong but I could never get

enticed in a story the way other students could. Reading was never intriguing to me, so I

found it boring and a waste of time. It didn’t bother me so much that I hated to read but it

annoyed me to know that no matter how old I got, reading would have to be a part of my

life. When I was younger, I was envious of students who would willingly read for

pleasure and I was curious as to why I hated to read so much. However, as I got older, I

just simply didn’t care anymore that I hated to read. I had accepted my disability and

learned to live with it.

I’ve come across two books that I can say I actually enjoyed, but being twenty-

one years old I feel like I should have hundreds of books I’ve enjoyed. When I read out

loud, I fumble over words and mispronounce them, which make me think about my early

reading experiences. If I had teachers who were patient and believed in me, I wouldn’t

despise reading so much and could willingly pick up a book for fun. My inability to read

well helped fuel my interest in becoming a teacher. I would never want a student to be

turned away like I was because that student required more time to understand. I want to
be a teacher who encourages students to want to read and get excited about books, the

way I never could. I want to instill in students the passion and drive to read and pick up a

book for fun, and even if they aren’t the best readers, I want my students to realize they

should never give up on their abilities or themselves.

I’ve come a long way since my early years as a student and proved to myself I can

overcome obstacles in my life even without the support from my teachers and peers. It

hurts to not have someone believe in you, but I learned to turn that disappointment in

myself into drive and determination to prove to those teachers who thought I could never

learn how to read. Even though I still dislike reading, I value its importance and

understand why it is so significant to get children excited about reading. I still struggle

every time I pick up a book, but I’m learning new reading strategies to help me get

excited about reading so I can instill that excitement and enthusiasm in my students.

I’m eager to become a teacher and be a positive role model for students who have

a hard time reading. I will be patient and understanding of student’s struggles, and let

them know that I believe in their abilities and that they should too. Even though my

experiences with reading haven’t been the best, I am grateful for my past since it has

made me the person I am today. It’s because of those negative experiences that now I

can be a supportive and helpful teacher students need to overcome their weaknesses. Due

to those intolerant teachers and students that never thought I could learn how to read, I

am more driven and dedicated than ever to make sure no student ever goes through what I

did. My experiences in literacy will mold me into a patient, understanding teacher and be

able to help and motivate students the way I never was.