Literacy History

            Fredrick Douglass once said “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” 

At a very young age my mother educated me in the importance of literacy in life. I was brought into a new world, a world where the words on a page could paint a picture so intriguing in your mind it’s impossible to set the book down. A world full of color that can be depicted with some black ink on a white piece of paper. It intrigued me how the words were the keys to an alternate universe that as a child I longed to not only discover but explore. My mother wanted to instill a proper foundation in me so that I would never be behind my peers but instead ahead. To aid me in this she would play videos that taught me how to annunciate properly and decipher words. These videos, with the help of my mother, instilled in me the proper knowledge to become literate. I first felt I was literate at around four years old, when my mother handed me books and I was able to read them perfectly. My diction was clear, I knew not only what I was reading but I was able to fully understand it. One of the best feelings as a kid is having your parents backing you in things that are of much interest to you. My mother would always support me and encourage my little boy hunger for books and for reading. I didn’t just want to break into this alternate universe, I wanted to see what it had to offer. I truly began to feel literate when I entered Pre-K and Kindergarten because when the teacher handed out the worksheets I was able to read and understand the directions thoroughly while others in my group could not. This doesn’t mean that they were beneath me because of this or that I was sky rocketed ahead, it just meant that at the time I was literate while they were not. This isn’t a skill you’re supposed to have it’s an acquired skill that constantly is developed, strengthened, and expanded in your mind.

Throughout elementary I continued my growth in literacy as I began to speak publicly as I competed in speech contests since the first grade and I won multiple of these contests. In middle school I continued my growth with speech contests but I also began to mentor kids in elementary school, helping them with English homework or even things such as baseball skills. These things like baseball skills were related to literacy because I would have to speak to these kids and I had to make sure I could speak properly to these kids so they could understand me ect. When I entered high school I really had to test my literacy skills. Not only did I have to mentor kids as a baseball coach and speak to them constantly but I also had to publicly speak in front of my peers as I took many leadership roles in many clubs. My biggest role model during this was one of my business class teachers. Since my sophomore year, or my first year at NAHS, she became my role model figure and was able to help me take my assets and use them to maximum capacity. She was the one that greatly inspired me on a day to day basis from the way she ran most things in the school, to her time management , to just how smart she was. It was just always never ending inspiration from her and with her help and encouragement it led me to do great things at my old school. Sometimes I long for the days we would be collaboratively working to ensure that the events we ran were running efficiently or that they were still on schedule.

Today my view on literacy is completely different from what it was when I was five years old reading a book about how a train couldn’t make it up a hill, but then could. When I was younger I felt that those who weren’t as educated in literacy as myself weren’t going to amount to much, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Sure those who aren’t literate may have a tougher time in the working field for some jobs than those who are, but being literate isn’t something that you can acquire without effort. Just because you read at your grade level means you’re as literate as your colleagues and if you’re able to read above grade level it doesn’t mean you’re more literate either. Being literate is about being able to express yourself through the words typed on a page, to be able to express yourself through the words that come out of your mouth, to be able to allow your mind to express itself through the songs that you are listening. See being literate is a skill that is fine-tuned but is unique. The way that you view being literate may be completely different than mine, or it might be slightly different but isn’t that the beauty of being literate? It’s unique to you. Why wouldn’t you read an extra book or two to expand your horizon and the way you think? To this day I will re-read books that I haven’t touched since I was in 8^th grade and I’ll realize the different point of view or way of looking at it today than I did five years ago, that’s beautiful. Never cease to expand, because a world of wonders awaits. Literacy is a skill that no one can take, no one can steal from you, no one can be like you, it’s a fine-tuned skill made for you, uniquely.