“Literacy Narrative” by: GianCarlo Diaz

Some of the most important times in your life may be when you first learned how to ride a bike, or when you learn how to swim. There are so many cognitive memories that impact our everyday lives. What most people forget, is the moment they created the everyday ability to read or write.

From the very beginning I loved to read, from picture books, to elementary chapter books where the words were bigger and you had a surprise page that was covered in pictures. In elementary school, we always had a school wide reading competition, where you would read these special books called “Bluebonnet Books”. Once you read every single one of them, you would be entered into a pizza party at some point in the school year.

The problem with reading for competition is I would not connect with the literature. Even if the book was somewhat interesting, or entirely boring I would not read to gain knowledge about anything, I would read for the chance to win a pizza party. Being the youngest boy of three in my family, I grew up with everything being a competition, so naturally when it comes to competing I am going to put full effort to whatever Im doing because I would refuse to lose at anything.

For the duration of primary school, I had no idea what interested me. I started losing interest in reading because I did not feel the necessity to read literature that was boring and didn’t interest me.. It was not until middle school that I grew tired of reading boring books about giving a mouse a cookie just to see the mouse act in an obnoxious way to get what it wants. I had gotten so upset with the fact that I had no more motivation to read literature, I went to the librarian. She began with asking why I didn’t want to read anymore. I blatantly responded saying that everything I read was boring and a waste of time. Now analyzing what she could do to possibly rekindle my passion for reading, she asked about the main things I loved to do outside of school on a daily basis. Thinking about my childhood I remembered all the good memories I had spent with my friends and my older brothers. We would ride our bikes everywhere whether it was to the park, around the city, the football field or even when we would go camping we would have an extravagant adventure through the woods and trails. So elaborating and painting a picture through memories with the librarian she discovered that I was an adventurous individual that enjoys spontaneous events. Then I continued to dig into what interested me in life. It didn’t take me long to realize that every single day throughout my years there was one thing that I never failed to miss; I have always been a sports fanatic.

Throughout school I was a multi-sport athlete, I played baseball, basketball, football, ran track, and even pole vaulted. So of course, if any type of literature had a correlation to sports I was locked in and analyzing everything about the text. Whenever I told the librarian about all the sports I played, you could see the light bulb above her head light up like a christmas tree, she knew what she was going to do with me. She then escorted me to a section that I have yet to be in, little did I know that corner of the library was going to be my go to spot throughout middle school. It was at that moment she introduced me to the very fascinating nonfiction sports section. So being the optimistic person I am, I go ahead and try the reading selection. I checked the book out and now waiting for the rest of my classmates to select their books, I start reading the book the librarian encouraged me to read. The first chapter I had a negative thought that it was going to be similar to the other books I have read, but of course the first chapter is usually the worst one to read. Somewhere in my mind something told me just to keep reading and see if it gets better.

After the first chapter the book became my new addiction. I was walking out the library with my nose in the book everywhere i went when i wasn’t busy. I would be in class and would have the teachers tell me to put it away because it was impeding classroom time. I had finally found something that had a mix of the main two things I enjoyed in real life and it rekindled something that I had thought I would never get back

Throughout school I had always competed for something I wanted and never really grasped the meaning behind enjoy of what you are reading, because when you read it and have an interest in what is happening it is easier to make a movie inside your head while your eyes go from left to write as you get lost in the reading. You are able to analyze and look at the bigger picture. The author will oftentimes build the story and give you insight that will keep your eyes glued to the pages. It wasn’t until middle school that I finally realized what I was missing.

Thanks to the librarian in middle school I found what I was passionate about. Reading the mysteries and intensity that was built up in the books in a way, carved a path to what I am going to do for the rest of my life. Whenever I read anything from athletes that need clients, I have to analyze what’s going on in their life because I am their financial security, they count on me to find them the best job available. Whether it be straight out of draft, free agent, or looking for a trade, other than the business related activities, reading and being able to look at the bigger picture is what is going to make me successful in this business.