Almost in every situation there is always an aspect of it that requires communication.

We spend our whole lives learning how to cope and adjust to these situations in order to succeed, fit in, or prevail. From day one I have been attempting to perfect my literacy skills, which will in turn, attempt to perfect my communication skills and other necessary traits amongst society. If you consider it, reading and writing definitely prevails over the other standard education of mathematics. If you cannot sufficiently read and write you may be considered an ignorant person in todays society. When it comes to solving a math problem, you might be off the hook. Conversation is used on the regular and no matter how good you are at math, science, or history you still need to have literacy skills in order to communicate with your boss, co-workers, and everyone else in your field. Although this isnt where my story starts, I must say that I am very grateful for Ashe County High School, where everyone knows everyone and the judgments have long since been commenced before you step inside your classroom. In my high school English class I felt free to say how I felt about any conversation as well as argue with any individual without the fear of hurting their feelings about any specific topic. I loved the debate-like feeling of my AP literature classroom and how connected I always felt with all of the readings. Ashe County high school was a great place for a passionate person like myself to attend, because I was in a classroom with my best friends, not just my classmates. Regardless of how outgoing or personable you are, sometimes you still hold yourself back in a crowded room when the eyes are on you. In my hometown there was never any first day of school awkwardness or jitters, it was all just something we had grown accustomed to. I feel

my high school English classes have put me at an advantage for nearly every class of mine in college. It is easy to find my voice in large classrooms when I have a question or dont understand, and one of my classes is involved with large amounts of group work, which I consider to be something I am comfortable with because of my prior experience. My high school experience ties in nicely for my stepping stool for college, but the rest is basically what initiated my love for literacy with a little struggle in between. When I started my first day of kindergarten, the pressure was on. I was attending a private Christian school that was known for their highly intelligent young people. We didnt have the everyday naps or playtime but instead had one on one study time with the teacher. They expected me to be the best that I could be at writing and speaking, regardless of my stutter. These anal, bossy, and ridiculous woman were who ignited my desire to always succeed in my literacy aspect of education. I didnt seem to graciously accept this as a child but I am grateful for them now. Although the education was premier at my current location, my parents decided to transfer me to a public elementary school in the fourth grade where I was learning what I already had in first and second grade at my private school. Although the education was a little slower here, I was also picking up on other language experiences and conversation skills that I never knew from my strict, uniformed, and under populated Christian school. I was usually at the top of my class when it came to reading or communications throughout my elementary school years because of my head start early on, but I was still feeling as if everyone else was more socially advanced than I was. Regardless of my age there is always a type of

indication in an individual that allows them to feel unwanted, inadequate, or unequipped. I was often excluded because my head was always in a book and also, believe it or not, I spent more time with my teachers than I did my classmates. We werent quite yet to the bullying aspects of a childs life, but that doesnt mean that I wasnt more isolated than the rest of my classmates. I was smart but also young, which made me unaware that this could potentially be a bad thing. I thought that being on top was really all that was important: which I then later discovered that was an entirely incorrect idea. I would later learn that it is impossible to succeed without the knowledge of knowing how to get along with others, have communication skills, and be tolerant, all while using your intelligence in a greater way than you do in the classroom. All in this same first year while I was still secluded and did nothing but schoolwork for fun, I learned about a program called Accelerated Reader. It was required in the fourth grade and it was actually something that my classmates thought of as cool if you had a high total of points. This was definitely my way in and thankfully, I wasnt a secluded, bossy, and arrogant hermit forever! I already spent a lot of my time reading so I was so excited that this could potentially make me friends too. Posted up on the main hallway wall for everyone to see was MY racecar, at the front next to the highest point totals. I could hear my name being said by the younger students and even the fifth graders in an admirable tone about how many points I had. This simple little AR movement got my name out to my classmates and I finally had people to talk to and play with at recess. Then, I discovered that books arent the only source of information. I learned how to express myself through my readings and because of my readings to my

elementary school peers. Of course, life cant be hard for you forever in fourth grade. This is the time when people are the most tolerant. This is when they dont look at your skin color, your annual income, the clothes you wear, or the shoes on your feet. Regardless, I was so thankful and motivated to read more and more books because this meant more friends. Then, even greater things happened because of my literary knowledge and it was called Multi-Age. This was when only ten of the fourth graders got to move up to the fifth grade English class every day with the big kids. By doing the same work that the older students did, it made all of us fourth graders feel really smart and advanced. I wrote my first poetry in this class and recited it to all of my new and older classmates who all applauded at the conclusion. In this class I also felt my first anxiety ever, when I broke out into hives because of a vocabulary test I wasnt prepared for. I vowed that I would never let that happen to myself again and this is where my study habits came from. I made a variety of different sets of flash cards and played red light/green light in the yard with my mom by the use of my vocabulary words almost every week. I learned how to prepare myself in order to succeed in even the smallest of grades. After fourth grade academics, specifically English, brought me to an even more exciting place that we called AIG. At my little elementary school we spent four hours a day in our AIG classrooms and the rest of the day at recess, lunch, and the other extra classes. This class made some serious friendship bonds and also made it easier and more acceptable to be outwardly intelligent. My peers understood obscure ideas and there was no discrimination about an abstract answer in this class. By this point I was definitely thankful for my book smarts that was once

considered nerdy. At the end of this specific class there was an award given out to the individual with the highest overall average. They were to be taken to The Lazy Five Ranch and were permitted to bring one friend. Of course, this was plenty of persuasion for me, so I dedicated all of my extra time in order to assure my win in this competition. As deserved, I did end up winning and chose to take the runner up with me instead of my best friend in the class. This is also the first time I had realized that hard work isnt always rewarded, although I felt like it should have been. We both worked hard and read a plethora of books in order to win, so I believed we equally deserved the award. If I hadnt have dedicated so much time to this or worked so diligently, I would have never known what it takes to earn something. So, I decided to take the runner up with me to The Lazy Five Ranch because fifth grade AIG English taught me to appreciate hard work. After elementary school was over, I was going to have to do the entire acceptance process all over again when I was uprooted from my hometown and delivered to a tiny little place called nowhere. Better known as Ashe County, I was forced to forget all of the proper English I knew and speak in this new tongue called, slang. After hearing the people talk my first few days of classes I thought for sure I was going to be eligible to skip a grade in this hick town. Then as the days went on I began to realize that despite their accents and slang terms, some of my classmates actually seemed to be intelligent. I had always thought that the way you dressed and the way you spoke symbolized intelligence, but here I learned thats not entirely true. On the third week of sixth grade a boy in cowboy boots, wranglers, and a giant belt buckle walked to the front of the room and much to my surprise recited the

most beautiful piece of poetry I had ever heard. He wrote about his Sunday afternoons, the familiar smell of his mom, and the sound of his brothers laughing. How could I have judged the fact that this farm boy couldnt write literature or recite beautiful poetry? As I got to know him I learned that he couldnt multiply simple fractions by the time we graduated together, but his poems were published almost every week in our local newspapers. This boy rode bulls for fun and got out of school three days a week during tree season to help on the farm, but he sure could touch your heart with his words. To me, literature is a process where you should expect the unexpected. My literacy life has brought me all the way here, to UNCC, and has played an immense role in my life not only as a student but also as an individual. I have learned tolerance, acceptance, communication, individuality, and so much more within this process. I know that there is always so much to learn from a book as well as a person. I have learned that just by being yourself you can find acceptance among others and that changing who you are isnt necessary unless you are growing from an experience. My past has shaped my present by reminding me that no matter how a person speaks or looks, their heart and their reflecting words can be deeper than any of your shallow thoughts. Also, I have learned that it is necessary to adapt to a new environment whether it be a new school across town, or a new school across the state. An incredibly important aspect that I learned at a significantly young age was that no matter how a person chooses to teach you something, keep your mind open. If an old, bitter, private school teacher demands you to speak through your stutter, you do it with no questions asked because in the

end it is all for you. It is all for your future and what you will use for as long as words and hard work still exist.