I’m going to start off with being completely honest with everyone. My experience with writing wasn’t the greatest from kinder all the way to the border line of child and adult hood(12th grade). Throughout the years of being in school it was a struggle to comprehend majority of the vocabulary words and terms that my teachers used or wanted us to use. My teachers always said that one of my strengths was pronouncing majority of the words that’s was in each text provided for us whether it was in a textbook, a printed article, a review, etc… What ever it was compare to other students I was one of the few that was on top when it came to just that. When it came down to the rest like knowing the proper meaning to a word and knowing how to use each vocab, well everyone excelled but me. Putting it into use, well let me tell you that’s where the difficulty lied. I had a very hard time grasping everything; like my brain would get every other thing the teacher was lecturing us about. I wasn’t a big fan of reading or writing at the time mainly because of that particular reason. I said it was a struggle but it felt more like a giant nightmare, while the whole class was advancing to the other lessons I was still caught up trying to figure out how punctuation worked. Where to place commas,how to use or how not use colons ,or when it is appropriate to use rhetorical questions. I even got teased for not knowing stuff like that each time, for a long time my confidence level was very low I didn’t want to read my own paper in front of my classes, participate in class discussions, nor was I willing to engage in conversations with my friends. I didn’t feel comfortable asking for help due to the thought of looking stupid after being in school for so long and I still didn’t know half of the stuff the other students already knew. I did my best to avoid reading pretty much anything that was laid out in front of me a lot of the time the teachers would let me slide considering the fact that they would get terrified that I would pass out because each time I read my head would glow bright red like a tomato. I guess they didn’t need another incident to occur. Not with me by the way the other incidents were with other students but that’s a whole different story though.
Entering the new school year as a senior getting ready to graduate and be done with high school for good. I still had trouble with writing and for the most part reading as well. Guess that’s what happens when you spend a lot of your time avoiding the things that should help you out. I thought I could go another year doing the same thing keeping my head down, staying quiet to the point where hopefully the teachers didn’t notice I was even the same room as them. As weeks go by I thought that I was doing pretty good for myself teachers haven’t called on me yet to read or to give my input on the topic the class had discussed. It wasn’t until one day I was in my English class at the time that one of the teachers in the school had figured out right away what I was doing and believe me when I tell you she did not like that one bit. I get called into her office/classroom and she introduces herself and happen to tell me that from here on out I was expected to participate in the class at all times no matter what. As time passed she did everything in her power so that I could become a better writer and reader. She had me start my homework and do a few exercises as well. She would call me each time I had my elective class FYI I was a teacher assistant for an art class. She didn’t care that it was the only period I was able to kick back you could say. She genuinely wanted to help me be a better student. So we’re getting close to the finishing the first semester and before we part ways for winter break she has me and the other 4 student in her room and asked us to please be productive while we’re on break. I didn’t hesitate to comply with what she had asked of us at that point she had become a figure to us someone we well respected and looked up to. So during my break instead of playing video games all the time I sat in my bed grabbed a book and started reading and writing a summary for each book I read. Little by little I started seeing the results of her teaching and it came to the point where I was reading and writing at the same grade group as my classmates.
Doing these exercises had developed my skills as a writer over time. Taking the time to read and to do free writing here and there not only helped me become a good writer but also boosted up my social skills and confident as well. My cover letters and Resume are better presented now and now using words more advance than what I was comfortable using before. Don’t get the wrong idea though this doesn’t mean that I am perfect at reading and writing now. No, not all I still have a little bit of trouble till this day. “So wait, you told you struggled hard in the beginning just to find out that you’re still struggling?!” Yes, even though I still might be struggling but, the point is that I am in a far better position now because of the impact reading and writing did. All of this wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the influence I had in order to pick up a book and read.
Abovetheclouds 