Personal Narrative: Improving My Academic Literacy

My achievement of becoming literate in both English and Spanish, after overcoming a myriad of obstacles distinguishes my literacy history. Writing was one of the things I didn’t like to do as a child. I always thought writing was a waste of time and that I wasn’t going to need it in life. Even though I didn’t invest much time writing, I was one of the best writers in all my classes, probably because I was very dedicated in the other subjects and I loved reading adventure books. I learned how to read and write by the age of four, since in my native country “the Dominican Republic”, kids are enrolled in school at the age of three; usually parents start their child’s education at home before that age.

In Deborah Brandt’s essay “Sponsors of Literacy,” Brandt describes the process of how people become literate, the effect of their experiences, and influential people on their learning. The term that Brandt uses frequently to describe those who have a profound influence on a child’s learning is “literacy sponsor.” She defines literacy sponsors as, “Agents, local or distant, concrete, or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy—and gain advantage by it in some way,” (Wardle 46). Essentially, Brandt is saying that every literate person has had the support of a person or idea that inspires their desire to read and write. The concept of sponsorship can be applied to fields outside of reading and writing too. There are sponsors of science, sponsors of art, and sponsors of medicine. Similarly, these sponsor help students learn to understand the principles of their individual fields. This paper focuses on the sponsorship of first-year and second-year University of Minnesota Medical School students from the Nu Sigma Nu fraternity. Data was collected through interviews with four students from this fraternity. The guiding question for this research paper was, “Can Brandt’s definition of literacy sponsor be applied to other fields of learning, such as the medical field.” If it is found that the definition for sponsorship can be applied to the medical field, then sponsorship can be applied to other

Health literacy has been a problem with our patients. The most vulnerable populations are the elderly, people with low-income levels, those with limited education, non-native speakers of English, those with chronic mental and physical health conditions, minority, and immigrant populations. Nurses have a great role in helping our patients succeed in understanding their health conditions. Nurses can be of great help in promoting health literacy. Sykes, Wills, Rowlands and Popple (2013) defined health literacy as the ability of individuals to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information. The three domains of health literacy, according to Bennett and Perkins (2012) as adapted from the (WHO) (1998) are functional health literacy, interactive literacy, and critical health literacy. Functional health literacy is basic reading and writing skills to be able to function effectively in a health context. Interactive health literacy is the used of more advanced cognitive and literacy skills to participate in health care. Critical health literacy is the ability to analyze critically and to use information to participate in action, to overcome structural barriers to health (p.14). The U.S. Department of Education published the findings of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy conducted in 2003. The result showed that 36 % of adults have basic or below-basic skills for dealing with health material, 52 %

My experiences as a writer have been both very engrossing and strenuous. I have learned a great quantity on both reading and writing, though, I continue to struggle on things that I have learned by this time, making the same mistakes that I do not even realize. Sometimes things are not so easy to understand when reading information, especially if the wording of an article is difficult for example. I love the idea of learning new things everyday. These past years as a writer have been very interesting, and I have learned and grasped many concepts I have been taught along the way.

During my two last years of high school, i've been in contact with a lot of colleges and universities. Many of which don’t get my attention. Throughout my whole high school years, there was only one college that i wanted to go to, Liberty University. I have heard so many wonderful things about Liberty and what i loved the most was that it was a christian school. Liberty had the number one thing that i am looking for in a college, that is a christian school, but many of my other things that i look for in a college where just not there. I used to live in Florida approximately 11 years ago and let me tell you, it's hard not to miss the sunshine state. Liberty is in Virginia, a state where it doesn't feel like home. When i received a brochure

My first main literacy who be my relationship with God, oh how I need him every day, I could write endlessly about this one, I feel strongly about my connection with the father and it makes me happy to even know the enjoy it has bought into my life .Oh how my soul rejoices every time I think about how much I need him every day he is the center of my peace and I could not start my day without him. He knows my name he is definitely my main literacy every day. The next main literacy would be my job and which I need that in order to live in this world and be a productive citizen in this society. To have money to sustain my lifestyle. My final literacy would be my whole family. They mean the world to me, there is nothing more important to me than

However, my progress as a reader has significantly improved and changed during this semester. First, I learned to improve my critical reading skills through the in-class reading assignments. My professor provided very useful help in assigning us the first reading response question: “Summarize the main ideas of the reading assignment. What questions do you have?” I think that a combination of being able to understand, summarize what the text says as well as interpret its meanings is a helpful approach one can apply to better his or her critical reading skills. Therefore, I have applied this approach to any reading I had for this class and I am still using it for other classes as well. Secondly, I changed my reading habit after the third essay in which I chose a research topic in my discipline to write about. While doing the research, I noticed that I was also encouraged to become familiar with many different subjects in my discipline. The essay assignment was to pick a topic that I am personally interested in writing about. Coincidently, this was also one of the goals that I listed on the first class writing “read articles and

If someone chooses to receive education on health literacy then it will be more beneficial for their experience

My earliest experience with reading and writing were traumatizing especially when I was in the first grade. I still recall the experience I went through to this day. It made me really hate myself because the other kids were making fun of me.

Public school systems need to be more sensitive to their students. Parents play the major role in determining a child’s academic outcome, but the school system needs to notice children who don’t necessarily acknowledge their gift. These children need guidance -- I believe it is the schools’ responsibility to provide it to them. I have been through a situation that makes me feel strongly about the subject. My example is an indisputable case in point.

Health literacy is both a consumer and public healthcare issue. As a health care provider, it is not only my responsibility to ensure that you understand your health and what is going on

My academic abilities can trace back to my days in high school. As an early high school student I displayed a subpar ethic towards school and the value of education. I had

Health literacy is the knowledge of basic health information and services that allows individuals to make good health decisions. Both the individual and the professional are responsible for one’s health literacy. That is why it is important that the government continues to enforce licensures across health professions, so that patients receive the best of instruction. In my expected career, speech language pathology, health literacy plays an important role because it is through effective communication skills that individuals make appropriate health decisions. I want to dedicate my life to being an SLP, so that patients with communication disorders can be health literate and their overall health improve.

On October 12, 2017, Joan Morris, MSHA, MBA, RN, spoke with LEND trainees about Health Literacy. Joan defined health literacy as, “the ability to read, understand and act on health care information”. Many influences impact health literacy, including environmental factors such as socioeconomic status, occupation, employment, income, social support, media, language, and culture, in addition to a person’s physical qualities like age, gender, vision, hearing, verbal ability, memory, reasoning, physical abilities, social skills, and metacognitive skills (Health literacy and public health: A systematic review and integration of definitions and models).

Literacy influences the ability to access and understand information. It enables individuals to make informed choices, to influence events and exert greater control over their lives. However, it is also important to understand that even if individuals have high literacy levels, it does not guarantee that they will respond in a desired way to health education and communication activities. Zarcadoolas, Pleasant and Greer (2005) believe that “a healthy literate person is one who ‘is able to use health concepts and information generatively – applying information to novel situations’, ‘is able to participate in the ongoing public and private dialogues about health, medicine, scientific knowledge and cultural beliefs’ and who can ‘make informed choices, reduce health risks and increase quality of life’” (chpcp, pg. 5). The need for praxis in health education is significant. The term ‘praxis’ is used to refer to the process and reflection of health and performing the action. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, improved health literacy may enable a lifestyle of healthy choices and support effective use of health