Literacy Evolution

Literacy is a skill that connects people of different backgrounds, unifying them through a common language. Though some are unable to take advantage or work for the opportunity to be literate, my literacy story started in childhood. Gifted and passionate about education, learning became the thing I thrived at most. Firstly, my parents placed me in preschool for two years to get a head start on learning. It continued with repetitious writing of my name, other words, and associating objects to words with my parents. During elementary summers, my brother and I were given various math, reading, and writing worksheets to extend our skills. I had a book at home that taught simple sentence structure, learning how subjects and predicates come together with a verb.

These skills learned at home during the summer and after school translated to growth in the classroom. During my elementary school years, I was a part of the Launch program, an honors-type program for gifted and talented students. The special attention to teaching skills at a faster pace helped me learn much faster how to become literate along with my home teaching. As I learned the pieces of literacy at home, school taught me how to apply those concepts. The words taught at home were built into sentences and paragraphs at school. Within the first and third grades, I learned how to write in cursive and began reading small passages in group readings.

I considered myself literate by the third or fourth grade, where I could read passages and stories. I began to read more books out of fun and surf the internet to research different topics that took me on a journey for information. I stayed after school for additional tutoring, began writing small essays in class, and started taking standardized tests. Those tests would require much practice for reading and writing skills.

My literacy journey was not easy, requiring much determination, hard work, and support. Ever since I was young, I have always had the drive to accomplish anything I wanted, often hesitant to ask for help so I could figure it out myself. Though I do not remember specifics or the exact timeline of my literary journey, I remember staying optimistic through the whole process. Rather than giving up, my first instinct was to try harder until I accomplished it. I remember classroom experiences as being hesitant to share my writing out of concern it would be wrong, but first to read aloud or help others. During my elementary school years and beyond, most of my teachers were supportive and helped build my confidence in my writing. My family was also instrumental in keeping me encouraged and motivated, being there when I needed help as well. My grandfather was a former English teacher who would intellectually challenge me with my literary skills. He would look over my major essays to offer corrections and suggestions. One of the last essays he reviewed before he passed was my application essay for the early college high school I attended.

The past four years have taught me that literacy development never ends. I attended Brookdale Community College and high school at the same time, earning my Associate's Degree and a high school diploma. The experience of being in two different learning institutions with those who were my age and those years beyond me showed me that personal literacy grows as time goes on, building the critical thinking and decision-making skills necessary in life. It is a skill that should be taken advantage of and should never stop being worked on. The ability to read and write remains crucial throughout life to communicate, learn, and mature.