How Can You Find Your Own Life?

My field experience lasted from Sept. 12, 2016 to Nov. 14, 2016; every Monday I had the incredible opportunity to come into the lives of about fifty students – one class of seventh grade English Language Arts (ELA) students that I spent most of the class period with, and one class of eighth grade ELA students that I spent the whole class period with. During my time with them, I assisted students during their tests and quizzes, helped their teacher with lessons on grammar and the English language, and together their teacher and I created a “Reading Club” for three male students in the eighth grade class who were reading at a first grade level.

To begin with, the theme of self-discovery is unmistakable in this novel. Discovering one’s self is an important

Especially when I was sat at the dining table, cramming hundreds of word in my brain before the next day, the due date for every second grader to read a whopping total of a thousand words. Given we had a few months to do this, but even at a young age I practiced the art of procrastination. This happened frequently during elementary school years, me freaking out, frantically turning pages of book after book. Words turned to squiggles that just got tossed into the dump of useless knowledge in my brain, as I hastily glanced over the pages. Pages with sentences that stretched for miles, with seemingly no end. Sweat beading at my forehead and fingers trembling, the dining room getting smaller and smaller, with that gross old book smell filling the atmosphere, my mind seriously hurt and my eyes strained, whether it be from the mush of words getting shoved into my mind, or my mom scolding me as I tried to read. Something about how procrastinating throughout school would get me working at McDonald’s? I wasn’t sure. I just knew that I hated reading.

While my love for reading sprouted, I soon became obsessed with writing. My passion for reading only helped my writing skills to prosper. In fifth grade, I had a teacher who very well understood that reading and writing were important. Every day, we had a half an hour to write about whatever we wanted. Boy, my imagination ran wild. I often wrote fiction stories. My favorite part was when the teacher allowed us to share our stories with the whole class at the end of the week. This one activity really sparked the beginning of my love for writing.

I entered through the cafeteria and the first thing I noticed was the smiling faces that came from teachers, students and parents. Teachers stood around different areas of the cafeteria and handed out breakfast to students. I found

Throughout my years of schooling, I have become ambivalent about reading and writing. I have struggled in school to make myself enjoy writing. I didn’t mind reading as much, as long as it was to my interest. It has differed throughout the years I have been in school. Some years I have enjoyed both, reading and writing, and other years I have not liked either. Getting myself to enjoy reading and writing has been quite the adventure.

Ever since a young age I’ve enjoyed reading. My mother even read to me while I was in the womb. When I started kindergarten I was so eager to learn how to read. After I learned how to read my reading level was always significantly higher than the others in my class. I was reading chapter books in first grade. Similarly I was very excited when I learned how to write. Ever since then I have enjoyed writing and do it in my free time. I have been told and

Nyasha was very withdrawn as she began her Y Readers journey at Reid Park Academy this summer. Since kindergarten Nyasha experience difficulty complying with school wide and classroom expectations. She had few positive interactions with her peers during the school year. Consequently, these challenges impacted her academics and school experience in a negative manner. However, Nyasha is not as inhibited since she has found her voice through writing this summer. Nyasha’s literacy skills have developed into grade level expectations and she has cultivated positive relationships with her peers and staff. She has attended camp every day and the family has completed more than the weekly required literacy activities. Y Readers

As the year went by, my parents and teachers noticed a decline in my reading and writing abilities compared to my other classmates. They decided it would be best for me to be enrolled in a reading and writing class in and outside of school so that I could catch up to my peers, and would be ready for kindergarten and first grade. Soon after I was enrolled, I was introduced to Mrs. Claire, one of the many people whom I owe my success to. Three times a week, Mrs. Claire and I would spend an hour

A learner’s ability to communicate effectively through writing to his/her target audiences is a major prerequisite for academic success. It is also a major pillar of success in one’s career across all areas of practice. Even though, writing clearly is critical to one’s academic and career success, I have not always loved writing. In fact, for a long time I despised writing. At one point, I had a feeling that my writings skills were bound to remain stagnated throughout my life. However, time has proven that I was wrong. My attitude and outlook towards virtually all genres of writing has changed positively. The various helpful methods I have been exposed to by my English teachers through different grades have helped me

Reading was the new outlet for my imagination and the stories I read fascinated me. They weren’t too unlike the scripts of computer games or the own stories I came up with on my own, but books actually had the action and emotional aspects written out. And again, while my peers were reading things about growing up, things that had morals and would teach valuable lessons (I remember one book about a shoplifter who had to do community service at an animal shelter), I read real fiction: Jurassic Park, Dragonriders of Pern, Lord of the Rings… Stuff of fantasy and science-fiction that let my mind stray from reality. Stuff that kept my imagination alive while I was being forced to learn multiplication and the names of countries. Of course, my teachers encouraged me to keep reading, as long as I wasn’t doing the reading in the middle of their lectures. But it wasn’t because of their influence, however, that kept me interested in books. It was because I loved it. It put pictures into my head and made me think. So I kept reading. But even then I knew reading wasn’t enough… Yes, the stories were fascinating, but they weren’t what I wanted. Back then I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but as middle school came to a close, I found it.

It is not always necessary that one should know about all his or her personal traits. Sometimes, you notice someone or read something and then only realize that it is deeply related to you in everyday life. The story ‘Zaabalawi’ totally intrigued me after I found part of me in the narrator of the story. I had never realized the trait in me until I found it in the narrator of the story. The fact that the narrator always looked for a higher purpose but never realized the happiness of the present moment struck me for I have always been like the narrator although never realized it.

I have many hobbies and interests every day, so I rarely have a time when there is really "nothing" to do. This, of course, means that I often have a busy schedule, but I enjoy very much doing things I like. One of my biggest interests is music. Piano is frequently my top priority, and I also play the violin at home and in the school orchestra. (I have a YouTube channel called "Ray's music channel" that has many of my piano performances!) Some of my other hobbies are competitive math, tennis, and swimming. A big regret I have that I want to change is that I often don't have time to read during the day. Most of my reading is either done on the weekend when I have time or right before bed, but even at night I cannot read much, otherwise I will not get enough sleep for school the next day. In general, I like many different kinds of books, but I think that after many days have passed before I keep reading my current book, the continuity is impacted and there is more to the book than I can get out of it. Lastly, I hope through 9th grade English that I can have more opportunities to improve my reading skills, which will hopefully also help me become a better writer. I believe I will be inspired to read more and try to make time to read every day, even if only for a few minutes. I have a very positive outlook for the year, and I am certain that English will give me skills that benefit me not just now, but for the rest of my

As a child, my interests were more focused on reading than writing. In elementary school I fell in love with books. Initially I read simple children’s books, much like everybody else in my class, but it did not take long for my passion to drive me to read more difficult writings. Fiction books quickly became a replacement for any childhood toys. Instead of blocks or stuffed animals I would ask my parents for books. Since they were aimed at young readers, they tended to be short. I found myself going through them within days, and then soon several hours. Towards the end of elementary school I was reading series like Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. I was captivated, and reading truly opened up a whole new world for me.

From an early age I loved to read. At just two years old I would beg my mother to enroll me into school. I watched as my older sister meticulously picked out her outfit each night in preparation for the next school day. At such a young age I somehow knew that this thing called “school” was the answer to something spectacular. My home was chaotic and reading became an escape and helped distract me from the unpleasant family dynamic.