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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
One of the first books my parents read me was "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". I would beg my parents to read it to me almost daily. My knowledge of the book was so ripe at the age of four I almost had the lines memorized. My Grammy bought me the plushy of the main character, Mousy, and I would carry him with me everywhere. -
Race to 30
I remember as a little kid, first day of school rushing to grad every book out of my book case so my mom could write them down in my summer reading log just so I could get the stupid little prize filled with pencils and erasers. The only reason why I had even read that many books in the first place that summer was to get that prize! -
Team Graphic Novels
In the second and third grade I absolutely refused to pick up a book that was not a graphic novel. I only read "Captain Underpants", "Dogman", "Baby Mouse", etc. My father used to yell at me when I would ask for the newest addition of any of those series, telling me I needed to get a "real book" and he would force me to get a novel. While I did not understand it then, he was trying to help me branch out into more educational readings. But because of his tactics, I barely read back then. -
Journaling
Almost every year of elementary school my teacher would give us a journal of sorts. The most distinct year for me was third grade- Ms. Sweets class. We got prompts, could write whatever we wanted, depended on the day. Her class was where I found my love for writing. I wrote EVERYTHING. Lists, what I ate, about my day, short stories, etc. It was a great pass time for me. -
Isolated and Alone
During COVID I was so alone. I had stopped talking to most of my friends due to the virus and I felt even more alone than I already had due to being locked in the house all day. To occupy my time I turned to books. I had not picked up a book that was not for school in a long while, so why not give it another chance. I got lost in the pages of the book, transported into the realm of the book I was reading. I scarfed down books like they were my only meal, finding solace in the pages. -
Narrative Essay
End of the year there was a narrative essay assignment and I was overjoyed when I heard about it, I spent DAYS on it, editing it, adding more to it, etc. In the end, it didn't technically fit the criteria of the rubric, but Mrs. Ferraro loved it so much she still gave me a 100! I owe my consistency in creative writing/ writing for myself to her for continuing to encourage me even when I doubted my writing skills. -
Snap to Reality
All of my schooling before high school, I did not really have to try in school, in fact it was often too easy for me and I got bored of it. Freshman year I thought it would be the exact same, but I was mistaken. The dual essays in Ms.A and Trench's class tore me to pieces at first. The first essay I got a D on, the second a C. I was distraught. From then on I vowed to focus more on my writing and how to improve it; paying attention especially to those silly mistakes. -
Me vs Spelling
I struggle horribly with spelling, oftentimes spelling simple words backwards. Because of this issue, I downloaded word games on my phone to strengthen my vocabulary and see if that would help my understanding of spelling. On top of that, I continue to read books for fun outside of class. This summer I think I read ten books, this year in total probably around fifty so far.