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My First Years
My earliest experience with literacy was when my grandma would feed me as a baby. My grandma, who is Italian, would constantly repeat the words "pasta", "meatballs", "gravy". These were my favorite foods. -
Bedtime Stories
As a toddler, I remember my mom reading me bedtime stories almost every night. Our favorite book was The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. She would read it over and over to me and I never got tired of it. I still have the book and plan to read it to my children in the future. Here is a link of the book being read aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0URlsHiPy10 -
Cousins
When my little cousins were born I remember one of my favorite things to do was read to them. Even though I was not yet a professional at reading myself I loved it anyway. I believe this is what helped me build confidence while reading in class and reading aloud. Dr. Seuss was one of our favorites. Here is a link to one of our favorite Dr. Seuss books being read aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DscA9YEIXGg -
Getting Started in Sports
When I was in elementary school my dad coached a few different sports at the high school he worked at. Soccer was one of them. I would go to all of his games and practices with him. This got me interested in playing soccer myself and when I started I was already familiar with the rules and lingo of the game from watching my dad. -
Work Trips with my Aunt
I am very close with my aunt who happens to be a physical therapist. During my summers off of school I was lucky enough to go to work with her on occasion and experience the life of a physical therapist. I got to learn a lot about bones and some other useful terminology. Taking these special trips helped me later on in an anatomy class. -
Anne Frank
I developed a huge interest in the story of Anne Frank because of my grandpa. He was always watching different documentaries on the history channel and one day I watched a movie about her life with him. In the 8th grade, my class read the book, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I already knew so much about her from my grandpa and watching the documentary countless times. I was very knowledgable about her story by the time I read the book with my class. -
The Odyssey
In high school I read The Odyssey by Homer and all I can remember about this book was it made me hate reading. I couldn't even tell you why I didn't like the book because I don't remember what the book was about. All I know is I didn't understand it and I hated being assigned reading homework for it. I dreaded having to go home and read this book when I had no idea what was going on. After this book, it became really hard for me to read material that I had no interest in. -
Special Education
Around my junior year of high school I read the book House Rules. It wasn't for school and I really don't remember what caused me to read this book, but it quickly became one of the most important books I have ever read. This is the book that got me interested in special education. House Rules by Jodi Picoult is about a boy who has Asperger's syndrome and is accused of murder. This amazing book is a huge reason why I became a special education major. -
Turning Oppression into Opportunity
In a general education class during my freshman year at Illinois State University I read the book Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The class was revolved around the oppression of women in the states, but mainly in developing countries. This book sparked my interest and passion for learning about the unfair treatment women receive every single day. Since reading Half the Sky, it has become very important to me to one day travel to a developing country and work with women. -
Studying Abroad
In my Sophomore Year at Illinois State University I studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain. It was the best experience of my life, but the language barrier was difficult. During my time in Sevilla I interned at a pre-school teaching English. Between the children speaking to me and hearing their teacher communicate with them my Spanish improved immensely. It was definitely challenging, but I am so grateful for the experience and continue to use the skills I learned in Sevilla today.
