A Reflection of My Journey With Reading And Writing

A Reflection of My Journey With Reading And Writing

 Every single step that we take in life has challenges that may either inspire us to try harder or make us quit because of the hardships encountered (Evers, Lisa, and Sharon, 465). My reading and writing journey, too, has not been a walk in the park. I come from a humble background in the rural areas. My parents were uneducated, and as a result, they did not have a lot of information on what reading and writing entailed. However, they were very passionate about reading and writing, and they were ready to give me any support that I needed. My reading and writing journey began even before joining the school. When I was young, seeing my siblings go and come back from school made me admire to join the school so that I could also be reading. My parents were aware of my passion, and as a result, this necessitated them to buy me books that contained short stories. After reading to me the stories in the books, they would, in turn, give me back the book and ask me to read after them. In as much as I was not able to understand correctly like them, I was at least motivated by the fact that I would read a few lines, and hence this act made my spirit go much higher.

After attaining the age of four years, I was ready to join school, and this was the place where everything took a different turn of events. My parents ensured that they took me to the best school where I got the best exposure in reading and writing. Reading in my lower classes was not very challenging because my parents had already prepared and exposed me to a reading background. As a result of all these, though I was still young, I enjoyed reading the wall hangings in the classroom, and every time we went for a break, I would remain in class to continue reading chats. My teachers were able to notice the urge that I had in reading and were fully supportive whenever I needed them as well as in areas I found to be a bit challenging. With consistency and appropriate naturing, anyone can become what they want to be in terms of reading and writing. It does not matter the type of background one comes from. I am reflecting on how my journey to become a great reader and writer looked like.

The support that I obtained from teachers, especially my English teacher assisted me in developing a strong foundation in reading and writing. When in senior primary, something happened during an English class that made me decide I have to be very good at reading and writing. An assignment was given to us to read and write about what we understood in a particular passage. I was able to read the passage effectively, but I had challenges being able to write well-structured sentences from what I had learned from the story. Upon the return of the assignment, I had not performed very well in answering the question. The teacher could see that I was not impressed with my performance, and as a result, he requested me to follow him after class. This acted as my turning point towards becoming one of the best readers and writers. Every evening after classes, I could meet our teacher, and we could go through different articles, including newspapers, journals, different storybooks, and class workbooks. After going through the different stories, he would later help me grasp the key points in the stories we had read and wrote them down in a comprehensive manner. The support from my English helped provide me with the best foundation in reading and writing.

My parents played a major role in assisting me in reading and writing at home. Every evening upon return from home, I would extend my reading skills. I had to balance both reading and writing because I did not want any bit of it to be left behind. I enjoyed watching journalists read the news during the bulleting hours to be able to grasp how the best sentences are constructed. My parents were very supportive and even enrolled me in a spelling and reading competition on one popular television station. The competition was the first one, and as a result, I was very nervous, and fright stage also overwhelmed me. I could not be able to read through some straightforward words effectively, but this one particular moment gave me a chance to gain confidence. My parents and teachers kept on encouraging me and assured me I would be able to achieve what I wanted to be in the future.

As it is said, hard work never goes unrewarded. After the spelling and reading competition, one of the sponsors who was supporting the event was very impressed with my performance, and he promised to keep me in touch. During this moment, I could form group discussions with my peers in class and conduct different researches related to literature. I was always the head of the debate. This was because I wanted to teach my fellows so as not to forget the existing knowledge. The group discussions were able to provide room for corrections from my peers and enabled me to learn new concepts. At one point, when I was almost completing my senior high school, the sponsor who had been impressed with my performance in the spelling competition invited me in a competition for writing an essay on the political situation of any African country. I thoroughly researched different African countries with the best political systems in preparation for the day. When the day finally came, I was able to emerge as the best writer with the best-composed essays in the competition. My hard work towards being the best writer was finally beginning to pay.

During my journey towards becoming the best writer and reader, several negative influences were evident along the way. Some of my friends did not see the need to invest my life in trying to be a good writer. As a result, they advised me to drop that urge and invest my energy in something else. Teachers teaching other subjects that did not have much of writing also encouraged me to stop concentrating much on reading and writing. At one point, one of my teachers even offered to enroll me in drawing classes, but I could not let go of something that I had worked towards attaining for all these years; sadly, I turned down her offer. Therefore, the journey of becoming the best writer and reader encountered several drawbacks.

The journey of reading and writing requires instructors and mentors at all the stages of life. I later joined university after completing high school. This was a point when I needed another mentor now that I was far from my high school teachers. The mentor in university would help me to sharpen my skills in areas that I was not well acquitted. My idea was based on the fact that writing essays in a university are different from those in high school. There is this instructor who was taking us through research and extension topics. After one of our classes, I followed him and explained to him what my aspirations were. Surprisingly, he was more than willing to help. He would take me through several articles, including those that were ahead of me. The analysis of more technical reports made me be overwhelmed with uncertainties as I was not sure if whatever things I was doing was right. But he was able to motivate me and assured me that I was on the right track. According to Noden, you only overcome your fears in anything by facing them (Noden, 23). I have attended several conferences in writing courtesy of my instructor. By the end of my first year at the university, I had become a very proficient writer. I was already producing different scripts about a wide range of topics in literature. I was able to achieve all these under the guidance of my instructor, who was also my mentor.

As a competent writer, I have my strengths and weaknesses. Currently, I am writing different books on a wide range of topics, including culture, religion, and various aspects that are taking place in the environment and the general society at large. One of my greatest strength in writing is that I can analyze different situations and come up with a very comprehensive essay about a given topic. These aspects have enabled me to grow because most individuals reading my work are always able to grasp the key points quickly. Every time I am writing, I always make sure that all the content I have written is correct and meant for the right audiences. One of my weaknesses in writing is I freak out when asked to write about a topic that is not very familiar. This is because I am always not sure if the content in writing will be entirely brought out. All in all, confidence in me is what drives me, and I strive for the best in whatever I do.

Technology has been of great importance in my journey towards becoming the best writer and reader. I can get access to different reading materials online. Going through the books has enabled me to identify the gaps that are in existence in writing and work towards filling them. Technology has also helped me learn what the correct spelling of different words is. Various terms are pronounced differently. As a reader, I have to be very sure about the pronunciations of different words each time I stand to read. Going into technology has also helped me be able to gather a lot of information and be able to share it with my other peers. Technology has also been able to bring up new insights on how I can be able to analyze difficult topic hence improving my literacy. One research has shown that different concepts and ideas are well understood when an individual watches how they are conducted rather than getting information from the teacher or instructor. (Warschauer, 910).The research further suggests that technology improves a person’s phonological awareness and cognition. Therefore, technology has helped me in becoming who I am regarding writing and reading.

In conclusion, reading and writing has been a journey that involved different steps, as well as challenges. Having been born in a family that is very supportive of my aspirations had a significant impact on sharpening my reading skills. Having been admitted to the best primary school and having supportive teachers enabled my passion for being a good reader and writer come true. The different competitions that I took part in sharpened my skills as well as improved my confidence. My analytical skills have been further enhanced by technology. Technology has also enabled me to identify existing gaps in writing and am always working toward doing my writing and reading the best. When I access my writing experiences from the past to the present, I can categorically state that writing is a journey that can be successfully achieved through perseverance and the rights mentorship.

Works cited

Warschauer, Mark. “Technology and writing.” International handbook of English language teaching. Springer, Boston, MA, 2007. 907-917.

Noden, Harry R. “A journey through cyberspace: Reading and writing in a virtual school.” The English Journal 84.6 (1995): 19-26.

Evers, Amy J., Lisa F. Lang, and Sharon V. Smith. “An ABC literacy journey: Anchoring in texts, bridging language, and creating stories.” The Reading Teacher 62.6 (2009): 461-470.