Personal Statement : Elementary School

Ever since I was younger I have always tried staying away from reading. The only person in my family that likes to read is my mom; however, she does not read often. Once she picks up a book, she cannot put it down. My dad on the other hand, never picks up a book. He and I are one in the same; we do not like reading because we have a hard time comprehending what we read. My brother also does not like to read. He does not like reading because he has a learning disability. My mom always had an extremely tough time getting him to read. Overall, my literacy experiences at home are few and far between.

My mother taught me how to read at a young age. She read to me before I could read which helped me learn new words and develop a basic understanding of literature at an early age. When it came time for me to attend elementary school, I remember heading to the library quite often. Books were organized based on what was thought to be the appropriate reading material for that grade level. I often found myself wandering down the isles with the older kids. I’m so grateful my mother encouraged reading as much as she did. If she hadn’t, it’s very possible I could have struggled with reading. If this were true, I wouldn’t have learned as much as I did, or had the desire to read, which is very important in order to become as advanced in literature as possible.

I strongly believe when some people grow up they lose interest in reading books, you can see the many people that don’t like reading in our schools, because most of us are on our phones and reading articles. I mainly read on my phone and I enjoy that more because the articles are short and to the point quicker. Phones have changed on how much I value actual books.

In order to truly and fully understand my history with reading, we must go back to the beginning of my narrative. The earliest memory of reading that I can recall is my mom reading me stories like The 10 Little Ladybugs. I absolutely loved when my mom or dad would read to me, and I wanted it to stay that way. I had no intention whatsoever to explore into my own individual reading endeavors. It seemed that my prayers would be answered, at least for a few years. It wasn't until I was in first grade that reading came back into the forefront of my very short attention span. We had started learning how to read, and I wanted nothing to do with it. My teacher, my parents, and even a few of my friends would try and get me to open a book but to no avail. This utter refusal to read

My mother could have let her reading skills go to waste, but she worked hard to achieve a good career, and reading played an important role in that. That is why I was taught at an early age to read and know how important it is.

I can somewhat relate to that because I rarely saw my father pick up a book and just start reading. He would sometimes read the paper to stay caught up on the news, but hardly ever did I see a book in his hand. I do however remember my mother reading quiet often. She would just sit on the couch with her cup of coffee and read for hours. Shoemaker stats that “when I was younger, both my father and mother were never home to neither entertain nor read to my brother and I” (348). That was completely opposite with my mother and I. She would read all types of books to me like The Hungry Caterpillar, Giving Tree, or Dr Seuss. I don’t have a lot of memory of when I first learned to read, but according to her I didn’t read well until the end if Kindergarten. On the other hand, I do remember her taking my brother and I to the public library where she let us check out a maximum of four books each. We would mostly check out nonfiction sports books like biographies of athletes such as: LeBron James, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Mark McGwire and many

Before I began elementary school, I enjoyed reading picture books, the touch and feel books and pop-up books. I loved the author Dr. Suess, because he was funny and because I loved the rhyming he did in his writing. I can remember before bed, my mom or dad would read to me until I got old enough to read myself. My mom has always enjoyed reading, if she is not reading a book, then she is reading a recipe or a magazine. My dad on the other hand, I have only seen him read one book, besides reading manuals for his tools. Reading was not a big deal in my house, all of us kids were told that we needed to read, but they did not force us to read. This brings me to Richard Rodriguez’s essay, in his household reading was not as important, but once he got to school, he realized that reading is one of the main activities. I can relate to Rodriguez because in either one of our households we weren’t told that we had to read before we did something else. Once I got to elementary school is when I realized that reading was not for me. Before school, I enjoyed reading, then once I began elementary school, I was forced to read, take tests over books, and read out loud in front of the class which made reading a chore.

When I was little, I loved to have my parents read to me all the time. At first, I didn’t learn to read because I didn’t want to read the “Learn to Read” books and preferred for my parents to read to me. I remember sitting with my Dad and following along while he read Harry Potter aloud to me and traced the words with his finger. Then we started to take turns reading aloud. I started to read more and more by myself after I was able to read the first chapter of Harry Potter (with a little bit of help). Then I worked my way through the rest of the book. I loved how reading let you explore new worlds and different points of view.

I remember as a kid, how my parents use to take me to the library every month pick out a book. My parents would let me take at least two to three books home with me and they would read to me every other night before bed. When I first started elementary school, my parents learned that I had a learning inefficiency. That was when I was put into to the special program with Ms. Quick. When I started to progress in school my parents were literally forcing me to read a book every other day. As started getting older, I started to not to like reading because it was always little things that I would struggle with but my parents didn’t give up on me. From third to fifth grade, my parents were making me read chapter books; every night before bed my parents made me read a story to them for thirty minutes and afterwards, they would ask me to give an explanation on what I read to them. By the time I started junior high, I was a great reader. From then on, I had no problem with my reading abilities.

I’ve always been an avid reader. When I was in elementary school, my mother would take my brother and I to the library every week to pick out books. I would take the books to school and read them all in one day. I loved reading so much that my teachers would call home and tell my parents that I was reading my library books during class instead of my textbooks. Reading has always been a major part of my life. I used to aspire to become an author. I even wanted to become an editor at one point. I used to make daily household newspapers and magazines for my entire family to read and enjoy. My strong love for reading certainly came in handy during my freshman year of high school.

Some of my favorite books, mostly Dr. Seuss, mostly got me going on my reading skills. It was easy. Word were easy to pronounce and they also had pic to help me with words I couldn’t even say. I felt important reading his books. Then, as I got older and my reading skills improved, chapter books came into play. Through my childhood I did not have it so easy. My brother passed and he mostly taught me how to correctly read. So when he left, I was stuck. I had other people in my family to help but once you get use to that favorite person helping you, you get attached. When it came to one of my other brother, it sucked. I usually get talked about constantly by him because he was older and always run his mouth when I came across a word that I didn’t know. Reading books became an easy escape at that age. It was something to do, and kept me occupied without having to talk to myself. It was also a way to read about other people and about their lives, which I think is a reason for my taste in books now. My parents and my favorite math teacher always told me that I'm a very bright individual and my accomplishments in other subjects prove that. I approached and passed science and surprisingly math. They both dealt with reading and understanding things that I needed to know. To me, writing equals to nothing more than stress and frustration. I thought was too stupid to waste effort

In a few short months, I will be graduating from high school. With that comes large responsibilities to take care of my own schooling and my own needs. There will be no one there to motivate me to finish my homework or to push me to school everyday. I am in charge of myself now, and it will take some time to get used to. Going to college is a big part of 2018 for me, and I want to start the year strong. Instead of picking a resolution or goal, we picked a word that we wanted to work towards this year. My word is strive. I want to strive to do and be better than I think I can be. To make my resolution easier this year, I picked a word that I can drive towards to get me through any trials.

As we walk through a dark avenue at night, brother in stroller, hands locked with moms, a fragile lady approaches us. She then asks “ Les gustaria ver un apartamento vacio?”. I don't remember my mom answering, but I assume she said yes as we start walking deep into the avenue away from the trees lights. The memory is blurry and difficult to remember. Later on I would realize how important this memory is since it was the home I spent the rest of my childhood in.

Reading has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was a little child. I grew up as a normal child should grow and eventually I had to start learning for me to fit in society. My literacy started many years ago, after I knew how to talk and communicate with people. Reading my alphabet was quite stressful and I had to be given a hand by my family members. I remember my parents reading with me and it was the most meaningful and memorable way to spend time with me. This is because I liked reading a lot and I was eager to learn so that I could fit in with my older siblings. My favorite books were storybooks taking about adventures and fairytales

Its not that my parents did not want me to read it was more of them not realizing that it is important for a child to beginning reading at a young age. I remember one day going over to my cousin Janice's house, who was a bit older then me, and I remember doing something that I should not have done, so she punished me by making me read a book. To this day I thank her because I will never forget the words of possibly the book that shaped me to be me. The book was called The Giving Tree, “...and she loved a boy very very much--even more than she loved herself.” wrote Shel Silverstein. This awakened a huge desire and drive in me to just soak up every word of every book I could get my hands on. My parents saw that in me and began taking me to the library to get piles of books and they also began to buy me my favorite