Literacy Narrative
Throughout my schooling, literacy has been a huge part of my life. I learned from a small age that learning to read and write is a gift and that not everyone in the world has the educational opportunities I do. My parents taught me that I should take every educational experience as if it were my last. At my elementary school, they made it a point to honor the arts through writing.
From the time I can remember, I can just picture my dad reading to us before bed. He always had a great reading voice that I would look forward to bedtime. On Christmas Eve my dad would read us “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, which by far is one of my favorites. He always did the voice of how we imagined the grinch would sound. He showed me that reading can be fun and that if you put your own personality into it, it can be an enjoyable experience.
Throughout middle school and into high school, my love for reading persisted. I read many e-books on my kindle; some were about a far away romance; others were fantasy books about princesses in far away places. Reading transports me to another world, where I can dream about these love stories and knights in shining armour. Peaceful and calm, reading allows me to unwind and relax, especially when I’m stressed or overwhelmed. I have started to write for fun and in a way, I think it has made me a better person. Furthermore, writing, to me is therapeutic and so it gives me the ability to voice what I’m feeling inside, without actually having to communicate out loud, which can be difficult at times.
Dancing for me also helped me communicate what I am feeling inside: happiness, sadness, anger or joy, these genuine emotions are released when I dance, and are free to express them through movement. I rarely get angry, but when I do, I don’t necessarily know how to deal with it at first and that can be frustrating, but, thankfully, I can count on the art of dancing to make me feel better. Therefore, like writing, dance transports me to a place where I can be myself and show people who I am as a person. My dance teacher was also a huge influence in my reading and writing career because ontop of teaching and mentoring young dancers, she is also and English teacher. I can vividly remember her comparing dance to the world of literature and noted that the two are more similar to another, than they are different. For example, in English, there are guidelines and categories, such as, voice, structure, mood and message. These are all qualities that dancers live by, and, professional dancers, like Misty Copeland, one of American Ballet Theater’s Principal Ballerinas; who work their whole lives attempting to master those qualities.
The time came where I had to write my college essay. At first I had no clue where to start. I sat down, tried writing down what I felt would make me “look good” for college but I realized that it’s so much more than that. Yes the college wants to see how great of a student you are but it also depends on you as a person. I got in the mindset of me thinking I am not good enough for certain things out of my head and realized that I am good enough to do great things and change the world.
I brainstormed what I thought would make me a great addition to all these nursing programs. I wrote down the motives behind why I wanted to become a nurse. I actually learned so much about myself during this time and if I didn’t realize all this new stuff about me, I don’t know if I’d be where I am today. When I started writing my essay, I was mostly brainstorming things I thought made a good person but I soon was finding myself writing on and on and not feeling like it was a chore. This was the first time in my life where, I felt comfortable writing about myself and why I wanted to change the world. I always knew that I wanted to make a difference but I never tried writing down how I felt. Nursing has been something I’ve always wanted to do but writing down the motive behind why I wanted to do this was something I never experienced before. This college essay was something I was so proud of and I felt my personality in it. I read it to my teacher, my friends, and most importantly my mom. My mom was the main focus in my essay so to have such a powerful and meaningful reaction from her, I knew this was the right choice on my part. This sense of pride was something I had never felt so strongly. I realized while writing this essay that yes, actions speak loudly, but words speak even stronger.
From this experience, I learned that writing can have such a huge influence on lives, especially your own. I knew that I was meant to be a nurse but I didn’t necessarily know why, now I do. I know now that there is such a deeper meaning behind this occupation. Many go into careers looking for the wealth and the financial benefits which yes, is important, but I think that changing the world is so much more rewarding. During this process, I learned not only a lot about myself, but I learned that writing can change lives. When you are passionate about something, it makes it that much more rewarding to work for it and the same goes for writing.