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Liann Brown

Professor Jan Rieman

English 1103

September 13, 2010

High-Tech

As I roam through the buildings of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, I ask

myself, “How exactly did I get here?” Reading and analyzing Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of

Literacy” essay made me want to associate how my success so far connects with my literacy

ability and my sponsors as well. Did my literacy skills begin to excel in my early years or my

latter ones? Who were the individuals in my life that I could actually call my “sponsors?” Was

the information that I gained from them significant and useful? What possible opportunities did I

miss out on because of my specific access to literacy? All of these inquiries came into

consideration as I carefully examined the history of my literacy.

I began to expand my literacy’s at a very young age. As soon as I was able to stroll my

way to the computer desktop at my house, that became my new place of residence. I can

remember sitting and staring at the computer for hours in elementary school, as if I was praying

to it. My mother was a career and technical education teacher and director for Charlotte

Mecklenburg Schools at the time, so I’m not surprised with my absolute amazement of

technology at that time. It was just natural for me to be around all types of technological devices.

The newest software and applications would be on our at-home computer that most adolescents

weren’t even aware about. I remember one day my mother brought home a palm pilot from her

job and I almost fainted. I was always awed by “cool” things with buttons that I had no clue what

their function was. My mother always allowed me to play games on the computer. Some were
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educational, and some weren’t. Even if they did have some type of educational purpose, I didn’t

think of them as learning tools. I just saw them as a source of fun and excitement. As I think

about my access to literacy, I compare myself to Raymond Branch, one of the persons cited in

“Sponsors of Literacy.” He, as well, was surrounded by computers and software as a young

child. His fathers occupation was responsible for this wonderful exposure, just like my mother’s

career was responsible for my exposure. Therefore, he became heavily interested and involved

with them. It is extremely hard to fight your surrounding environment. My environment was

filled with all different kinds of the new and updated technology. Therefore, you can define my

literacy as being “high-tech.”

Technology didn’t just work on its own to help me excel though. There were key

individuals who played a key role in enhancing my learning ability. As a younger child, my

primary sponsor was my mother. She exposed me to computers, which in turn helped me learn

how to read and write through technology and learning based games and exercises. As I matured

though, I started to venture off on my own. My mother’s background with computers and

technology inspired me to take interest in the business and technological field of study. I took

matters into my own hands. I would go on the internet and read up on new updates on businesses

and firms to increase my knowledge in that specific area. Therefore, I also consider myself a

primary sponsor for my literacy because my inquisitiveness influenced me to gain a lot of new

information that I thought would be helpful in my future. By doing this, I somehow fell in love

with money. Money. Money. Money. That’s all I thought about. I would always save the money

I earned and be careful and limited with my spending. This relates to what Deborah talked about

in her essay. She elaborated on the topic on how people use their sponsors for self development.

This is exactly what I did. My mother encouraged me to pursue certain aspects of my life that I
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thought would help me in the future, so I conducted research on my own. I took her passed down

skills and knowlegde and applied them to my own separate and personal life.

Some other people that I consider sponsors of my literacy are my business and

technology teachers and advisors throughout high school. I took numerous business, marketing,

and accounting classes. I also joined clubs, such as Future Business Leaders of America and

DECA. These clubs combined technology and business skills to increase my literacy. They also

added methods of business concepts and persuasion techniques to my literacy. I had to read and

write lengthy papers on a consistent basis, coming up with business, marketing, and distribution

plans. These classes and clubs also helped me increase my problem solving and speech skills.

They made my literacy more well rounded, not just focusing simply on reading and writing.

These sponsors were truly helpful and influential. All of the literacy skills they passed down to

me helped me get accepted into many different universities, helped me get in the business honors

program at UNCC, allowed me to win many competitions and awards, and allowed me to

participate in many life changing experiences that increased my knowledge and my thirst for it as

well.

I am so grateful for the literacy’s that I have acquired and the individuals who assisted

with that task, but there is one thing that I think I missed out on. Considering I was so into

technology, I hardly ever read a book. There are few hard back and paper backs in my collection.

I haven’t read many chapter books throughout my lifetime, whether they be fictional or

nonfictional. I was never pushed to read intensely. In 9th grade, we had to read books for a

program called Reading Counts, but after that, I really didn’t have to take the time to pick up a

book and read it. That’s probably why I despise reading now, especially stuff that doesn’t apply

to my life or goals. Maybe if I wasn’t so focused on technology, I would enjoy reading books a
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lot more. That was in previous years though. Now, technology has allowed individuals to read on

computers and other devices. Other than that fact that I wasn’t exposed to that many books, I am

honestly satisfied with my rate of literacy and my sponsors, as well.

Overall, my process of gaining new literacy skills was a great one filled with wonderful

opportunities and learning experiences. I learned through computers and technology, something

that I consider intriguing. I breathed, ate, and slept technology. This is a path that I don’t regret

because computers are becoming a way of life, and I have the upper hand on some people, which

hopefully will secure a successful future for me.

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Works Cited

Brandt, Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Eds. Wardle
And Downs. Boston: Bedford, 2011. 406-26. Print.