Torie Gibson
- Rhodes
English 1301
7 June 2020
My Reading & Writing History
Reading and writing have been a struggle for me for as long as I can remember. I remember being in elementary and being embarrassed that my reading level was always on the bottom of the grade level or that I wasn’t the most robust reader. I used to hate being called on the reading before the class, not so much because I was shy but because I couldn’t read that strong and unsure of all the words. There was far more student’s way behind me, but I never cared for reading. Now I’m wondering if it was just because I wasn’t right. What if I didn’t give up and focus and tried harder? The paper seeks to explore the probable contributors to the difficulties I experienced while reading and writing.
Not to blame anyone else, but I honestly believe it had a lot to do with my parents never being big readers either. Not saying they didn’t, but I don’t recall them ever reading to us or making us understand. It was never introduced to me at an early age, so why would I learn to like it. I am not saying that’s the only reason, but I try to read as much as possible with my kids. It widens their knowledge and vocabulary and hopes they don’t grow to dislike it as much as I did. I was a smart kid but never applied myself to the fullest, never had anyone holding myself accountable either. Math was more of my favorite, and I just always “got it.”
I once remember a story my father told me about himself when I was still young and growing up as a child. So permit me the privilege to quickly relate the story as it was said because it deals effectively and directly with this question. My father was an uneducated man who dropped out of school when he was in class four. Later, when he grew up, he left the primitive village he was boxed in, traveled to the city, and started working as a chef in a restaurant suited in America. Because he saw the need to work on himself and developed his reading artistry, this desire prompted him to do all he could to cultivate the act. Interestingly, when my mum went to the marketplace to do some shopping, she came across a book titled “Learn How to Read, Add to Your Reading, And Keep on Reading.” The book was initially written in American Language. So his wife (my mum) bought the book for him. Although my mum could not read, I am sure you are wondering how she got to know its importance. I can give you the only answer: I guess the whole thing most have been orchestrated by the Divine Will of the Be All and End All of All Existence.
Once I got older and found the right books I was interested in, reading started to grow on me some. I like writing more, but I want to free write. I tried to print out home letters to diary about what prevailed throughout the entire life. It was a good outlet. Writing in class when we had to and especially research papers, those I hated the most. I do not think I did not like reading and writing because I was not sharp at it, but more because I am lazy and do not care to put effort into it. It is so much easier to watch a movie. I am a big movie person. But if I had to write about something that interests me, I don’t think it would be bad at all and would be more into reading or writing it.
In conclusion, being a victim of the challenges based on reading and writing, I found went through all the probable difficulties that any slow learner would experience. I initially attributed the problems to my illiterate parents until I witnessed my mother understand the significance of a particular book. There henceforth, I thought otherwise and started investigating on specific books that interested me. Consequently, I was able to furnish both my writing and reading skills, an aspect that developed me to a big movie person.