Personal Narrative: My Red Corvette

In the text "Why I Read" by John Dufresne, I learned that reading opens up new worlds to an individual. Reading allows one to learn new things and to become a more knowledgeable and understanding person. It is much easier to be more understanding of people and their actions when you have more knowledge to be able to understand. The reading from my past that I most identify with is "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. This novel taught me that when times are tough and the odds are against you, perseverance and ingenuity are the key to success.

As a child, I was very interested in books. If you saw me it was safe to assume that I had a book with me. I attribute my love of reading to my grandparents, who have encouraged and supported my reading habit since I was a child. If I even hinted that I wanted to read a certain book they would get it for me. Avid readers their selves, they recognized the impact literature can have on one’s life. It wasn’t until 2013, the summer before I started high school, that I truly discovered how much literature can impact your life, views, and feelings. The novel the Glass castle by Jeannette Walls taught me about empathy, hard work, and family.

My freshman year continued with much confusion. The only reading that I was doing then was just reading Fanfiction, but those stories are just written by kids like me, with the same english skills as me. I found it extremely entertaining, but nothing about it was making me a better reader. I just needed to read more books that would challenge me. Reading is not my favorite activity. If I get to pick the book I read, then I do a better job reading it. But if everyone is to read the same book, that is a whole different story. But then there was that rare occasion where I was assigned a book and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Where the Red Fern Grows. My favorite book of all time. I read it in the sixth grade, and I’ve never cried so hard in my life, aside from when I was born, nothing tops that. I was always eager to read that book during my english class and would even read ahead of the class, which was very

I wake up in a warm environment around 6pm. My first steps of the day begin into the bitter cold of North Dakota. I walk in the snow for a quarter mile to reach my owners truck. Stepping high, I get into the truck and gently tap on the gas pedal to get the truck started. For a few minutes, I wait for the truck to warm up. My owner slowly pulls me onto his calloused tired feet.

For as long as I can remember I have loved reading. Fiction, non-fiction, biographies, it doesn’t really matter to me. I remember my mom trying to teach me how to read when I was three. I started off reading small Dr. Suess books and then it was on to newspapers and chapter books. One of my all-time favorite books when I was a kid was Junie B. Jones. I read all of the books with her name at the beginning of the title. Reading was a way for me to escape from reality. It’s like I would get lost in the books. I’d spend hours reading. At times I felt like I was the characters in the book. Reading exposed me to many different situations and outcomes, and it broadened my vocabulary. In a way reading helped me prepare for the real world. People usually

I love to read books that I will learn from, I read a lot of books about horses as they are a big part of my life. I

Literacy has applied over the course of my education and my life. As an education major, I believed that literacy was an ability to learn how to read and write. Furthermore, literacy has been a part of my education. I have come to an understanding that literacy is a lot more than what it seems. It’s about expressing yourself that includes your opinions and feelings. As a college student, I still feel like my literacy is evolving with every essay I write. But, through my literacy autobiography and literacy experiences. I have gained through the process of “growing up” as an educator. I 'd like to capture the hearts and minds of readers through my journey and experiences with literacy. As I take you back into the past of how literacy has grown inside me. I would one day like to show how these experiences will influence my teaching strategies.

Since I was young, I have been passionate about lending a hand, to a person I felt needed support and this passion helped shape what my future may hold. An event happened that has been instrumental in developing my character and guiding my choices ever since. It was a late summer night and it was almost midnight when my soccer game ended, After the game, I ran into the washroom because I was dying to ease myself. I took an excessive time and missed my ride home; they must have thought I had another ride home. My situation made me become bewildered at what to do next then, I thought to myself on giving my mother a call. My bag was by my side so I reached into my bag for my phone and tried turning it on but, it was unresponsive so I figured my phone battery was dead.

Early in my life, I used books as an escape from the harsh reality in front of me. When I was around five years old, I was trapped in an abusive and sheltered household. When the yelling started, I used to hide under my bed and stay very quiet. I would read any book that I could find to keep my mind off what was happening around me. I made myself a safe space under my bed with a light and pillows. I remember laying under there, wishing that I was one of the characters in my book. I prayed that somehow, I could be transported to another place where I felt safe and loved. However, through all that hardship, I developed a love for literacy. I would become so enthralled in a book that I could read for hours and never once look away.

When I was eight-year-olds, I was always told to read a book by my teachers and peers and I absolutely loathed it. One day I was handed an assignment, we were set off to check out a book from the library to read during reading time, which during this time I dreaded. After what seemed like hours, I decided on a Junie B. Jones book that caught my eye. After a brief reading session of one hour, when I finished the small chapter book, at once I decided to check out another one of the books in the series which lead to another one and so on. On average I devote about twenty hours of my time a week reading books. Reading is important to me because it is a way to escape into the pages of the book and start a new adventure with these characters. While reading you also learn to look past the surface and empathize with others.

In my reading class, we read The Mouse and The Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. I can remember my teacher introducing us to this book like it was yesterday. On the first page, Cleary uses the word rumpled. We had a whole discussion on this word and I could visualize how the boy looked based on this discussion. Now when I am doing a read aloud or working with a group I love discussing vocabulary and I always think back to that teacher. This was also the first chapter book I read and I recommend it to all children. Then in third grade, my teacher would read to us Junie B. Jones which I fell in love with and could not get enough. My last years of elementary school reading wise involved Dear America books, American Girl books, and Scary Ghost stories books. These were topics and books I chose myself and not for a class. I think it had to do with having more freedom in the library that I looked for books myself. Most of my literacy journey took place in middle school. I enjoyed almost every book I read for a class and enjoyed going to the library. My middle school had the best YA section I read so many books I cannot remember so I just chose ones that I remembered and

My mother had a love of reading which she desperately tried to pass on to her children. I remember we would go to the Library all the time, which was one of my favorite memories as a child. My mom would tell us to pick out three books each and off we would go. When I was young I defiantly judged a book by its cover, I wanted the outside to look inviting and then maybe I would pick it out to discover what the inside was all about. My mother would read to us every night, at first just some simple children’s books and then, as we got older, we would read novels together. I loved those memories and even though I had a very caring mother with my very best intentions in mind I never really picked up on reading. That was until I fell in love with my first book.

During my elementary years, I don’t recall being interested in reading, but I do remember the first time I fell in love with it. I was in my 7th-grade reading class. I just completed a quiz when my teacher realized that I had nothing to do after. She offered me a book that I will remember for the rest of my life because it is the book that basically started my reading journey. It was called Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper, I loved the book so much that I read the whole entire series. When I first met someone who didn’t like the book I was beyond shocked. Right at that moment, I realized that reading has its own effects on me. Reading has changed my writing skills, it has improved my knowledge and lastly, it has helped me manage my stress while going through hard times. Without reading I wouldn’t be the person that I am today.

I’m the child of a car enthusiast’s dad, therefore we can talk for hours about cars. Bringing advantages, for example, there is never a dull moment in our conversations. Another advantage was my first car to own a 2003 Ford Mustang Mach 1, manual transmission. Man, dad and I basically build the car to what it is now. Adding performance suspension, cold air intake, performance catalyst, and ARK exhaust, and so much more. In the end, the time, money, and hard work didn’t paid off.

One of my favorite memories growing up is how much time I spent reading. Whenever I got a new book I couldn 't put it down. I remember that I would always read on the bus ride home. Reading was something that I liked to do. As I’ve gotten older my choice of books has changed alot, a different genre for each of my phases. Today the books that always manage to get my attention are usually the books based on true events.