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Reading Independently
My passion for reading and writing have been fostered from a very young age. My parents always made sure to expose me to books, and music. My mom would read to me every day, and I learned to read independently at the age of four. It has been said that if I was being 'too quiet' I could always be found reading, most likely hidden behind the couch. -
Pottermania
Harry Potter came out when I was five years old and I quickly became obsessed. My Dad would read a chapter (or two) to me every night. As more books came out and I grew older, I would read to him. Looking back, this is one of the books that truly made reading enjoyable when I was a child. -
First Library Card
I vividly remember walking from our Elementary School to the library and signing up for our library cards when I was in the 1st Grade. Our class would walk (about four blocks) to the library once a month. There was a large children's area and we could also use the computers. We would have 'story time' and were always excited to take home books. -
Adventures of Quail Man
When I was in first grade we were supposed to write a story. I took the assignment and ran with it, I wrote a whole book of one page stories. Now I'm not sure if it was grade school plagiarism, or fan-fiction, but I created these stories based on a TV show called Doug. Doug, the main character, would turn into a superhero and fight villains. I typed up the stories, illustrated the pages, and bound them into a book that I still have! The photo is one of the stories. (lol!) -
Movin' on up!
In 2001 I entered third grade. I was a strong reader and not being challenged in my class, so I attended the fourth grade english class (and soon after Social Studies). About two months into the school year I had a meeting with my parents and the principal. I was excelling in my classes, and they wanted to move me to the fourth grade permanently. I remember my parents letting me make the decision, and of course I thought it was cool, l so said yes. -
Reading/Writing Convention
When I was in Second grade my mom and I went to a sort-of reading/writing convention for students. There were many authors, from poetry to autobiographical, and they were signing some of their most popular books. I still have this book [in the photo] on my shelf, and am still fascinated by Coyotes! I was lucky enough to have it signed by the author. -
Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books was a reading competition offered to fourth and fifth grade students (I competed both years). I fondly remember this competition- we had to read ten books in a set amount of months, and then have a quiz style competition based on the reading. I probably studied for these competitions harder than I have for any test in my life (lol!). I think it was a great way to get students involved in reading and anything competitive (for me, especially) is a blast! -
Tutoring
When I was in 5th grade I was part of an after school program to help first grade students who were struggling with reading. We would help the younger students by picking out books, reading through the books with the students, and help them understand the words they were struggling with. I remember I was excited to pick out books I thought the younger children would like, and it made me feel good to not only share my passion for reading, but to help them overcome their challenges. -
Song Writing
I started my first official songwriting journal in sixth grade. MANY MANY angsty pre-teen songs and poems are in this journal and I can not believe I still have it. Mostly about boys, schoolmates... This journal is the place where I started sorting through my emotions and using writing as an outlet. I wrote in journals constantly throughout middle school and high school. -
Discovering A Favorite
I was in Seventh grade when I discovered one of my favorite book series, written by Garth Nix. The Abhorsen series follows a young girl named Sabriel in a quest to find her father. She enters a dark world of necromancy and magic... it's a pretty cool series. I remember when this came into my middle school library and I read each book the day the library received it. I have these books on my shelf right now and they have definitely influenced my choices in literature. I love fantasy novels. -
Lake Geneva Anthology
In Seventh grade, my poem was selected to be in the District Anthology. The competition was open to students from grades 5-12 and I was lucky enough to make it in! My family was very proud of me and I think this was the first and only time my writing has ever been published. :) Definitely the highlight of my middle school career. -
MySpace
Back in the day... there was MySpace. MySpace was the best place to blog about your feelings and connect with your peers for it's time. I would post poetry, songs, and journals on my MySpace page. This really opened up the idea of sharing personal writing with an audience. Since MySpace, I never seem to be able to keep up with online blogging. -
Creative Writing Competition
My freshman year of high school I entered into a creative writing competition hosted at UW Whitewater. My English teacher encouraged me to enter, so I wrote a poem in Old English. I didn't win the competition, but it was a lot of fun! We attended a class as well, and I still apply some of the things I learned to my writing in present day. -
Teacher with a lasting influence
My freshman year of High School I met one of my favorite English teachers, Mrs. Stark. She was sassy and smart, passionate, and just an over-all great teacher. She really pushed me to be a better student, writer, and over-all a better human being. I was her teaching assistant in 2009 (my junior year), and she retired the following year. -
Yearbook
My junior year of high-school I was on the Yearbook- mostly taking photographs but I helped with a couple of articles. We had to interview students and staff, write articles pertaining to our sections, and control page layout. I learned a lot about journalism while on the Yearbook team and it definitely helped improve my writing skills! -
Health Care and Medical Literacy
I started my career in health care at eighteen. I never realized how much there was to learn when it came to writing medical terms. Abbreviations, dates, medications... it is a whole other language! Health care workers are constantly charting, reporting, and communicating through writing. Most places I have worked still prefer hand written documents to typed. Only within the past year or so have smaller care facilities transitioned to digital records. -
The Juliette Society
I had pre-ordered one of my favorite celebrities books, and she actually responded to me via twitter! An erotic novel series, better written than 50 Shades. It is about high society secret parties and a college girl navigating it all. She is currently finished with the second book, and I think this was my most anticipated release of a book series to date! -
English 101 W/ Dr. Pruitt
After a six year hiatus from formal education I am attending UW Rock County! I have definitely had some challenges adjusting to school from a 'normal' adult life, but am excited to be learning! It is a constant challenge taking college level classes and I am already starting to see improvement in my literary skills. I am happy to be brushing up on my skills (and learning new ones), that can be applied to my college career and in this class. -
Current Obsession
I am currently obsessed with the Good Apollo comics, written by Claudio Sanchez. Frontman of the band Coheed and Cambria (my favorite band since 2004), Claudio writes comics based on his fantasy universe he has created through song. The latest installment is being released monthly and I am excited to be reading them as they come out! -
Featured Member Article
I recently had to write a 250 word 'artist biography' about myself for the Janesville Art League newsletter. I think this was one of the most challenging things I have had to write. Although it is only a blurb, I didn't want to seem too arrogant or worse, not personable enough! I think auto-biographies can be a very challenging form of writing as we are most critical when it comes to ourselves.
