Narrative Essay on My Reading Journey

📌Category: Books, Education, Learning
📌Words: 1390
📌Pages: 6
📌Published: 05 February 2022

Lamott Anne, successful writer, once said “For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die” (28). This quote is relevant because I as a reader, when I read a book, I feel connected, books are not only physical copies of words, but as a new world itself I can escape for a fraction of my life and only worry about what’s on my hands. My reading journey started since a young age, my dad every night would tuck my sibling and I into bed and read us a story, would be the most exciting part of the night. New stories, fables, helped me sleep at night, surprisingly hearing those stories would always make my creative thinking and imagination float through the roof. At the age of 9 I had the unexpected news, my parents were getting a divorce, which in the mind of a child doesn’t quite get the reasons and sadly my dad was not part of my everyday life, I felt like the part of the climax where everything seems lost; The princess losing her prince, or like the sidekick seeing his hero being defeated. They arranged for a meeting every weekend so we could stay at my father’s place, reading by myself was not thrilling anymore. However, being able to have those moments and memories encourage me to learn how to read between tones, commas, etc. With the help of my dad, I was able to master reading paragraphs of my favorite’s tales. Two years later my parents had another announcement they had to share with us; I was tired of devastating news, now I had to move to another country, which meant not being able to see the figure I admired for my 11 years of life, the person who I loved the most, who would encourage me to be stronger, and taught me the most. My dad said it was for the best, me being able to learn and study in a different country would help me in the long run. I wanted to make my dad proud of me, I decided to make the effort of surpassing every obstacle, barrier, I had in the way for me to be successful in the future.

 As John Ann, a well-known linguist said, “If students want to become affiliated with academic discourses communities, or even if they want to succeed in school, they may have to make considerable sacrifices” (333). As students, is our duty to become a role model and show others how knowledge can influence us. February 2016 was my first day on school, I was scared out of my mind, not knowing a single word student were saying, thankfully, I made some friends that knew Spanish. Over the week I got used to the school, I remember the first time entering the library, one of my classes was mandatory that every Friday we would go to the library and pick up a book to read over the week to take the Renaissance Learning—a program that helps students accelerate learning and develop ability levels. The library was gigantic, which in Mexico they didn’t have the affordability to have as many books as in the U.S. They had a Spanish section where I would pass most of my time reading books. One day my teacher told me that I needed to pick an English book, I would read those on grade below my “grade level section” Those types of books had English and Spanish translation which helped me identified the uncommon words. For example, I would read “Animals make a difference” by Ashley Lee, which had a variety of books about different types of animals and their characteristics, habitats, etc. I would learn a lot about an animal reading those simple books. 

Around 3 months my homeroom teacher made us read with the class “The one and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate, they didn’t take me into consideration as I was the kid that didn’t know the language, so they didn’t lend me a book. Every morning I would stay at my desk and hear the audiobook, while the other students had the ability to annotate and read with their physical copies. That didn’t stop me to not read the book, after class I went to the library and search for the book myself, luckily, they had a copyleft and I check out the book. After school, I would read and catch up with the class even read further so when I hear the audiobook in class I would be able to hear the pronunciation, I grab my notebook and started annotating the words that I hadn’t heard before, which were a significant amount, then I would go to google translate. I was able to comprehend the story, and when we took the renaissance learning test I got a 70 percent, I was so proud of myself; even though it was not a 100 I was able to take the test and know what the concept of the book was due to my efforts and tenacity.

  Reading made a great impact on my literacy because it has shaped me into who I am today, and I have acquired knowledge and understanding of different points of view. We, the students should acknowledge that working is not just  being the best at it, but knowing what are we capable of. 

Growing in Mexico my family couldn’t afford to spend on ‘technology’ as it was out of our budget, we had to go to ‘ciber’ to do my group projects, homework, investigations.

As Brand, professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said:

This analysis of sponsorship forces us to consider not merely how one social group’s literacy practices may differ from another’s, but how everybody’s literacy practices are operating in differential economies, which supply different access routes, different degrees of sponsoring power, and different scales of monetary worth to the practices in use (172). 

Sponsorships are powerful figures, agents, that help an individual to become literate. Regardless of living in Mexico my chances of sponsors weren’t extended, as now that my use practices are diverse. I didn’t have the affordability to buy books, therefore, I had to look for a job a soon as it was of legal age to work— 16-year-old. Not only for me but to help my mother with expenses, or monetary problems. February 10, 2020 was my first day of work, with the ability of mathematics I was able to take the advantage of being in the cashier, and the communication skills that I had built over the years were beneficial for customer service.

 When my first paycheck came, I was exciting, tears of joy spreading on my cheeks, as finally being able to make your own money is satisfactory; putting your hard work. As soon as I exchanged my check to the bank, I went to Barnes and Nobles, and got my first book “Scythe” by Neal Shusterman, so many options to choose from; I was in heaven. I decided to go with Scythe because immediately when I read the synopsis I fell in love, the part that captivated me the most was “Thou shalt kill with no bias, bigotry, or malice aforethought. Thou shalt grant an annum of immunity of the beloved of those who accept your coming… Thou shalt kill the beloved of those who resist…” I’m partially grateful to study, however, being able to acquire the resources that my school provides, like computers and teacher that cares for the students as humans, not as a job; and my mom making all the sacrifice for me to be successful in life, like moving to a different country, leaving her family behind, is what I’m most thankful for. 

Taken into consideration that I, for the past 6 years, have not seen my father since the day we parted ways, It hurts knowing your inspiration, the one that helped me outgrow, and showed me the beautifulness of having a book and read what it’s transmitted to the audience, imagining the surroundings, and having the ability to feel their emotions, or transmit their knowledge to you, is something that I would never want to forget. Making my father proud of who I am today, an independent woman, who strikes to be better every day and accomplishes her goals, as a student, daughter, and human being, with the help of my sponsors and literacy. For the students that had hardships in life know that you’re never alone, individuals encourage you to outgrow of those through circumstances, and sacrifices inspire us to show how literacy shape us.

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