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My First Hobby
As a child, I was not inclined to reading as much as others. Although I was smart, I did not have a natural desire to be reading books. I did, however, become infatuated with sports. My passion likely developed because it was something I had in common with my dad. A byproduct of my love for sports was collecting sports cards. It was an easy gift to ask for, they were exciting, and had interesting details about each player on the backs of the cards. -
Irrational Punishment
After my parents divorce, my dad remarried a woman named Tasha. She had a son from a previous relationship in the same grade as me. She always compared us, and would try to sabotage my grades and punish me for high marks in order to somehow make her son look better. This is one of the darker aspects of my life, but it has had a considerable impact on my literacy. For much of my life, I have been afraid to be smart. -
Pen Pal
At a family reunion, I met my cousin David for the first time. We decided that we had a lot in common, and decided to send letters back and forth. This was my first extensive experience with writing that I can remember -
Advanced Reading Group
In elementary school, I was placed in an advanced reading group with a few other students. We read extra books, such as the Animorphs series, and discussed symbolism and other aspects of stories. This group introduced me to the idea that a story can contain more than just the story at the surface. -
Math Competition
In fifth grade, I participated in a city-wide math competition. Although it wasn't reading a novel, it was based around story problems. We won first place, despite my step-mom attempting to influence me to do poorly on purpose. She is a prominent example of a negative literacy sponsor in my life. -
Spelling Bee
Fifth grade was also when I participated in our spelling bee at the school. Spelling is an important part of literacy because accurate spelling can help convey a clear and concise message. I won first place at our school which allowed me to participate in the city-wide bee. However, I lost in the first round on the word "Laddie." My step-mom didn't enjoy my success in the first bee and convinced me to avoid qualifying for them in the future. -
An Introduction to Beautiful Writing
Most of my schooling success has been focused on the math and science subjects. However, I have always been impressed with a strong grasp on the English language. My favorite example of this is the beautiful descriptive writing in The Great Gatsby. -
DECA Competition
Junior year of high school, I joined DECA, a business students' group that has yearly competitions. The competitions consist of being given written prompts of business situations and reacting to them accordingly. I qualified for state competition junior year and national competition senior year. An important part of literacy is reading, understanding, and using information. -
Mock Election
My senior year of high school was also the year of the election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. In an effort to get elementary school children interested in the election, our AP Government class put on a mock election. Students were chosen based on their political beliefs to portray the candidates and give speeches at various schools in town. I was chosen to be Barack Obama and we won the election voted on by the young students. -
Washington Seminar
Washington Seminar has been one of the most illuminating and magnificent experiences of my life. I, along with others in AP Government, had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC and interview government officials. Our goal for this trip was to build a strong understanding on policies in a certain subject and give our take on the policies in an essay format.