Going to school is mandatory and, most times, free, so not receiving some form of an education is rare. Reading and writing are used daily and is fundamental in life because of how often they are used throughout the world to relay messages but can be difficult skills to master. These skills have played a great role in my life because I am able to retain knowledge of what has been going on in the world as well as I have been able to express myself through words. My parents and teachers were the way I learned about reading, writing, and yearn for scholarship. I believe I was first introduced to books when I was a toddler when my parents would read me bedtime stories. To a non-reading baby, the book fascinated me because it had numerous words and colorful pictures on paper, and it would make my parents start to talk and soothe me to sleep. When I got old enough, my parents bought me a Leap Frog Hooked on Phonics system that teaches children how to pronounce letters and make learning to read easier. That was my favorite system in the world! I learned to match the letters to the sound it made and even learned a word that started with the same letter. I advanced very quickly and moved on to the read along books. I would listen to the man on the tape while I followed along closely with the books. Soon, I began to grab magazines and books that were around the house and read it to my parents. If I struggled, I would sound out the words, and if I still could not get the word, I would ask my parents what the word was, what it meant, and repeats the word until I remember how to pronounce it. This method helped me practice my reading and it also gave me an opportunity to learn new words, meanings and expand my vocabulary. When my parents saw my interest in reading, they started bringing me to the library so I could obtain more books. I read about three books every night, and would wake up with my head right on the page where I left off. The more books I read, the better I became, and I could not have been more proud that I was doing it all on my own. Reading, for me, was my favorite thing to do as I grew up because it helped me grow a large imagination and become one with the book. When I was asked what book I was reading, I would shock people because I would say three book titles instead of one and that was shocking due to my young age. Books were so intriguing to me I could not just read one. My love for books help me when in school, we had to read books in class. Because I started reading at an early level, I developed a vocabulary that exceeded others in the classroom and was also appreciative of being able to read in school. When I started to write, the first thing I learned was how to hold a pencil. Although it seems like a mediocre task, it was exceedingly tough for my little hands to get the hang of it. Once I mastered the art of holding a pencil, my father wrote my name down on a piece of paper and told me that it was how my name looks when written. He then went on to hold my and with the pencil in my hand and help me write my name. I tried once by myself, and I could not have been more proud. I put it on the fridge even though it only looked like tons of scribbles. Before bed, my parents would write down a couple words and I would then try to imitate it; this continued until I started school where I would be challenged even more with harder words. After I read what it said, I would grab a notebook and a pencil and start copying the words. When I started school, I learned how to start writing in full sentences. The teacher gave us students workbooks that had plenty of lines and had examples of the letters for us to trace. So everyday when I went to school, that was what we did until we finished the book and moved on the next one. If I finished working in my books and my classmates were having some trouble with writing their letters, I would go over to them and help them just as my father had helped me