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Sadie Huggins
Professor Rebecca Agosta
UWRT 1102-016
16 September 2014
Critical Narrative Assignment: My Identity
What is identity to a person? Who you are? Where you are from? I believe that is part of
it, they are both a critical point in someones life that effects who they are for the rest of their
existence, and cannot be changed over time. This is where I begin the story of taking a closer
look upon myself through my upbringing and how it has affected the type of person that I want
and strive to be. What has Casar, NC, and my family installed in me that makes me the person
standing before you?
From a very young age I realized that I was sheltered in a small town, with little chances
to experience different types of culture and life outside of my community, all of who share the
same beliefs. In my town there isnt a large distinction in class, low to high middle class; it is a
rarity to have anything different. I believe that is why my mother always pounded into my head
the need for school; she wanted me to be different, so you can only imagine my familys
disappointment when I no longer wanted to be their millionaire lawyer but instead a teacher.
It took a very long time for me to realize that I wanted to teach, throughout my life I
always told myself that anything I do directly effects my family therefore it should be set up to
their standards of who I should be. To a point this was a good thing, I always pushed myself the
extra mile in school and tried my hardest to do as much as possible while still balancing a job
and family. I was very average though, most people, male and female, was just as socially and
academically inclined as I was and I didnt feel that I stood out. My Mom always told me with

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hard work and dedication I would be the best lawyer or doctor. I never had the strength to tell her
that that was not my goal in life. What made me decide to follow my dream was my sister.
On September 9, 2004, Abbie Roxanna Huggins was born. My little sister is my opposite,
my parents struggled with this. Abbie marched to the beat of her own drum; she is hell on
wheels, and every bit of the kind of person that will take care of you until they cant anymore.
Although Abbie was so socially outgoing we could tell from a very young age that she would not
focus in school. She is not the kind to sit there, and listen to a lecture or someone drone on and
on or even read a book. Abbie is what I would like to call an active learner if she could touch it
and see it then she knew what she was doing, but other than that dont even waste your time.
My senior year of high school I was allowed to student teach at my local elementary
school, which is also Abbies school. It was here that I found out that most classrooms are full of
two kinds of students the Abbies and the Sadies. Surprisingly there was far more kids like my
sister, raised in a place where you discover knowledge not learn it, the ADHD and dyslexia did
not stop them but changed their learning style. It was through this that I realized, even though I
was reading and writing and doing all these things to try to impress my family I would be
nothing if I could not adjust to those who thought or felt different than me. My family had raised
two different kinds of smart, and although I thought my sister was a masterpiece of creative ideas
and sarcastic remarks her elementary school only thought of her as EC.
It was then in my senior year of high school that I decided to become a teacher. It was
always in the back of my mind, but to watch my family grimace of the prospect of me only
making $34,000 a year was just not as satisfying as me saying I want to be a lawyer or doctor. Of
course those professions are just as important as any, but watching children grow and develop

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their own sense of thought outside of society and inside of their own personal world was
satisfaction all in its own. There are more children like my sister who is classified as a blemish in
the classroom. I was raised in a house that believed knowledge is key to success, which I
completely agree with, but who are we to classify how you obtain your knowledge?
In small towns like mine you have many children who are on the poverty line, and whose
parents were raised to work and never to learn, although these families may want something
different for their kids they dont exactly have the means to do so. I believe thats where some
children struggle in the classroom and since most teachers do not feel the same way they do they
might not go the extra mile to make their learning experience just as enjoyable as the other
children. Not saying this is the case every time, such as now my sister gets pulled out of class for
a small portion of the morning and is tutored in reading, the only problem with this is that the
only time the teacher will allow her to be pulled out of class is during her math lesson and even
though math is Abbies favorite subject she is now falling behind in both math and reading.
I want to change this. Not implying that I will make some global discovery that will
change the universal way of teaching, but that I dont just present one way of learning. I strongly
believe that teachers reiterate themselves in order to get their point across to their pupils, why not
use different teaching method while doing so, so that you present the knowledge in different
ways to all different learners? One may have to put in more work, and be unhappy with their pay,
but to see the figurative light bulb over a students head is possibly one of the best feelings in the
world to know that you are the one that is responsible for the inspiration of learning and
knowledge.