Narrative Essay

My literacy journey began in elementary school, then middle school, then high school, and now finally
college. I don't remember how difficult it was to read and write at the start, but I know that the higher
the education went, the more difficult it became. Learning to read and write is a different journey for
everyone; it can be an easy or difficult journey. For me, the definition of literacy has grown and changed
over the years. I understood literacy as simply reading and writing about a subject; However, over time
and several English courses, I came to understand literacy as a complex way of thinking, all about finding
and learning the meanings hidden in text.

My first learning memory was in Pre-k. We were on our carpet with the letters of the alphabet on the
floor and my classroom even had its own bathroom and sleeping area. Although I remember my
teachers and my classroom, I don't remember what I learned or how I learned it. We learned the
alphabet and how to write our names in Pre-k. We also had students from the higher grades come to
our class to read books to us. They helped me pronounce words and explained what each word in the
book we read that day meant. It was very helpful because it allowed me to learn faster than if I had just
read. The books I read the most, Clifford or Green Eggs and Ham. And my teacher made me read them
several times to understand each word.

My mother has always been a major influence of y learning throughout my whole life. When I was little,
she used to put me in her lap and read to me every single night. Whenever I was in the car seat running
errands with her, she would have me practice the alphabet or read to her. I became familiar with words
and how they worked together quickly. She would take me to the library very often because of my love
for reading. Because of this I never missed a single word on any spelling test that I ever took
throughout elementary school and middle school. I consider my parents to be my best blessing, because
they are the reason, I have turned out how I am today. My attitude towards reading over the years has
been like a rollercoaster. I used to love reading when there wasn’t a lot of pressure or deadlines
involved that would stress me out. I also liked having the freedom to pick out my books, so I still had fun
reading. Soon enough my relaxing fun turned into stressful reading with deadlines, which turned my
attitude towards reading very negative for a few years. I tend to have a negative attitude towards old
literature such as old poems that are difficult to read due to the difference in speech at that time. I
prefer to be able to comprehend something the first time I read it, and for the text to be in the normal
prefer our more modern language being used if I’m forced to read a story. I do have a positive attitude
about reading things that I am interested in knowing more about. For example, I thoroughly enjoy
reading articles about college, engineering, or technology where I wanted to study in cybersecurity.

I also love any novels with action in them such as The Hunger games and The Maze Runner. In my
opinion, anything that I enjoy learning about or that is exciting to me is worth reading. I found that
learning to write was such a boring task to do.

I’ve been blessed to be constantly surrounded by constructive influences that are eager to assist me in
all aspects of my life, especially educationally. I hope that my reading and writing skills may surpass far
beyond what I ever thought they could, and that I can be a positive and helpful to my peers as well. I’m
looking forward to the opportunities of exploring new types of reading and writing material, so that I
can gain knowledge and improve myself for the future. My goal is to be prepared for whatever literacy
challenges I may come across.