Anthony Padron Literacy Narrative Ive always been a shy person.

Ever since I was a little boy in pre-school, Ive held back and only really come out of my shell for certain people. Usually it was people that I felt comfortable around. My kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Foster was not one of those people. She was scary, intimidating and if I didnt know any better at the time, she was plain rude. Kindergarten was basically the year of basics, as far as I remember. We learned the basics of science, simple math, and started getting tested on our reading ability in small activities. One of my least favorite of these class activities was checking in, if you will, with our teacher. Once a week, each student would pull a chair up to Mrs. Fosters desk and read a passage out of one of our books. Mrs. Foster was a very intimidating woman at the time. She had that look that made you think she could end your entire world with a simple stare. If my work wasnt done properly, I would always be able to turn to her until I found that stare. When it was my turn to read, I would be silent until instructed to do something. That stare froze me in my seat and when it was time to read, I could barely get a single word out of my mouth. It wasnt that I couldnt read; I loved to read! One of my favorite things to do was to get lost in a good story. So, I definitely could read, it was just that I was afraid of what Mrs. Foster would say if I slipped up and pronounced a single word wrong. She was so intimidating. So, in my kindergarten world, it was better to say nothing than to start reading and get anything wrong. My parents would pick me up from school later in the day, but we couldnt actually leave until a small meeting took place between them and Mrs. Foster. I would sit at my desk or talk with my friends while trying to discern what the grown-up conversation was about. I couldnt gather much aside from the occasional glance from my mother or from Mrs. Foster from the other side of the room. That night, at home, my mother said to me, Son I know that you can read, because we practice every night and youre better than pretty much all of the other kids in your class at it. So

why arent you reading to Mrs. Foster? The problem wasnt whether I could read or not, it was that I didnt want to read to this woman I had to call my teacher. But I hadnt heard the entire story. Apparently the rest of the conversation between my mother and my teacher involved Mrs. Foster saying something along the lines of, Its hopeless. Your son will never learn how to read. If he hasnt by now, theres no chance. Have I mentioned how rude she was? This made me quite upset but I couldnt bring myself to read to this woman. I didnt like her. I didnt want to show her my skills. The rest of the year went on this way until the last week of school. That last week my mom would get out of work a bit late and so I had more time to spend in the after-school program. Thankfully the program was run by my favorite teacher from the previous year, Pre-K, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith would ask about my class and how my reading was coming along. She was a really friendly lady who I respected very much. I would write up on the board random sentences that only, lets say, a skilled reader and writer, like myself, could accomplish. On one of those days, she clapped and said, Bravo! Now lets hear you read some of these out loud! Just as I was going to begin reading, Mrs. Foster walked in. Turns out these two teachers were friends. She literally just came in to hang out and talk with Mrs. Smith. I almost didnt read. I almost stopped and shut my mouth, but decided it was time to show this lady that it isnt hopeless. I could read better than anybody in that class. I started reading whatever was around as little kids do. The alphabet was on the wall. There were posters with little sayings hung up. Its strange to say that I just started reading everything, when you think about it from our perspective now in college; but at the time just seeing words around the walls was something enough to read and show off what I could do. Mrs. Foster was shocked. I reveled in the expression on her face. I loved proving her wrong. It was the best feeling in the world. I went on to subsequent grades in school, always being able to read at a higher level. I wouldnt venture to call myself gifted or anything, but I never really had any trouble reading. I

stopped being so shy, as well. Malcolm Xs autobiography about his literacy explains that his institution was what helped him with his skills. He was in jail and literally read everything he could get his hands on. (X, 1) I would say that I have my institution to thank for my literacy skills, as the school program did put a huge emphasis on reading and writing. There were always books and reading materials strewn about that put an emphasis on reading. Deborah Brandt, author and professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes sponsors as someone or someplace that has helped you grow in your literacy. (Brandt, 166). Its hard to look at someone who I dont have such fond memories for as being someone with an impact in my life, but aside from my parents pushing me, I really have Mrs. Foster to name as a literacy sponsor and as the person I should thank for pushing me to prove myself. Proving my worth eventually helped me find what I enjoyed most in life and what I want to do with myself. It surely took me a while. I went through a couple of majors in college, never really feeling sure about any of them. I went through accounting and legal studies, neither of which allow me to show much of my skills in reading and writing. Sure, there is a lot of reading and comprehension in law, but I didnt really get to stretch myself and come out with anything to show for my work. I wanted that feeling of completion, and I also felt I was missing that wonder that comes with a good story, like the ones I would read as a child. I spent a lot of my time reading subtitles on TV shows as a kid. My family is Cuban and so whenever I stayed at my grandmothers house, we would watch Spanish TV shows. She always had the English subtitles turned on. I didnt necessarily need them, as I spoke Spanish quite well, but I think they stayed on mostly because my grandmother didnt exactly know how to turn them off. My grandmothers television was a very impactful literacy material in my development. So, I grew up reading a lot of television, if you will. Be it kids shows or Spanish soap operas. I watched and read everything. This all went into my growing love of television and movies. My father eventually found a old VHS video camera for me to play around with. I

eventually forgot all about that love I had for such things. I never made anything worth writing home about, but it wasnt until I thought back on this passion I found for stories and the way they are told on the screen, that I figured out what it is I really want to do with my life. I decided to start over with one last major and that it would be film. The majority of my reading and writing today comes from reading film screenplays and writing down ideas I have for films and stories. I feel perfectly at home with this type of reading as I was basically reading screenplays all through my childhood. It would come as no surprise that I am majoring in film. Film, and any kind of art is the kind of thing where you get to show off your skills. I enjoy the satisfaction of showing what I can do and what I know. Putting a video together and proving to people that you know what you are talking about when it comes to film and getting positive responses has been a high point in my college career, so much so that I want to pursue a career in filmmaking. I always think of Mrs. Fosters reaction to my reading whenever I get responses to my short videos. Whether I get to write my own stories and make them a reality in front of the camera or just work in the background, the manner in which I learned how to read and gained my literacy skills growing up has had a huge impact on my life and hopefully will continue to do so as I move on past my college career.

Works Cited Brandt, Deborah. The Sponsors of Literacy. Albany, NY: National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1997. Print. X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. "Learning to Read." The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York:

One World/Ballantine, 1992. N. pag. Print.