Monica Gunnell
English 101
1-25-15
The Reading and Writing Struggle “The more that you read the more things you will know, the more that you learn the more places you’ll go” as Dr. Seus would say. For most people growing up reading and writing are common subjects that they are supposed to keep up with during each grade level. For me I found myself in the same grade that everyone I was growing up with, but always being 2 grade levels behind in this specific subject. I had many different feelings towards reading and writing, because of my feelings I’ve always had certain distraction become excuses for me to stay away. It took me awhile to understand why English is so important today, and it felt like forever until it actually hit me. Starting in 3rd grade I was never into reading books like the other children, while every kid that wanted quiet time to read there new book they got from the library or the book store event I sat there wanting to jump around the classroom, play games, skip, and scream my lounges out. As a kid there comes a certain age where schools start to test your reading level skill right until you graduate high school, and even after that but by college it’s your own hands figure out if you want to succeed or be finished with school. As a 9 year old I saw myself 2 grades behind the reading level as a 3rd grader while some kids in my class were succeeding beyond a 3rd grade level. I didn’t pay too much to understand why I had a literacy problem I thought as a kid I was just like that, but my peers did and they made sure that I would try to succeed in the steps I had to take, but I never realized what all of it was for. Going through elementary school with a literacy problem my parents, and my teachers understood what I was going through, and they knew what steps I had to take to be at the same level as my grade. To succeed my peers decided to push extra reading and writing classes on me, I went to these classes not because I knew I didn’t like literacy or that I had a problem with it; I did it because I was told that it was something I needed to go to like other kids like me. Though I always wondered why I was the only kid from my class to go to a special room with other kids I didn’t know during English time, that’s all I wondered nothing else I didn’t give any other thought to why I had such a hard time with grammar and reading. As I went through extra classes extra homework year after year I got to the 5th grade and actually started to love reading I wasn’t so great about writing but my sentences and my short essays in classes were better than before. I couldn’t wait till English class to finish the book I was reading or to go to that class, and see what my new story would be. I felt this way until I went off to middle school, that’s when I learned distractions should never be ones excuses. Entering middle school I didn’t care much about playing games, coloring pictures, or playing pretend stories with my friends anymore I cared more about the existence of my social class, who my friends were, what i wore, and what the latest gossip was. Not once did I think that English or math was as ever close to important. Distractions going through middle school took a big tole on me especially when it came to reading and writing. I came out of 5th grade exceeding in reading, but once i stepped into 6th grade language arts looking back it feels like i worked so hard to throw it all away just for some spot to fit in. I stopped reading books, would half ass my papers and thought it was okay to get C’s on things I should’ve