Narrative Essay
When I think back to childhood and reading, I would say my favorite book of all time was “Daddy’s Little Girl”. I always wondered how I learned to develop skills that would benefit me forever. Well first off my mom was a school teacher, so I had a huge advantage than some of my classmates. Reading to me is very important and without knowing how I don’t think I would be where I’m at today. Learning to read is one of the greatest developed skills as a child and improving them every day will help you achieve any goal in life. Yes as a child you would think reading is not important because you have TV shows and toys that can teach you how to say these words. Every child learns different, I’m just glad of the way I was taught how to read.
As a child, I was very quiet and slept all the time. Some may not know but I am a twin.
During birth my mom was carrying twins but one was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome in which resulted into death at six months. It was hard growing up knowing I had a twin and not being able to share such a bond with someone that looks just like you. Even though I lost a sister
I have an older sister name Brittany. My mom told me Brittany was the only person, other than herself, made me smile. We did everything together no matter what it was she was there for me.
Being six years apart never was a problem until we became older and my sister had to go to school and I was by myself. To keep the bond close, Brittany read me a certain book every night before I went to sleep. The book was “Daddy’s Little Girl”, in which was my favorite book as a child. Daddy’s Little Girl was about a young urban single man who raised three kids, two boys and one girl, in the late 1900’s. Every night I found myself not able to fall asleep without hearing the book. Brittany read to me until I turned seven, being I was entering school myself. A thought always ran through my mind asking myself: Will I ever learn to read on my own? As the years went by I developed better reading skills. By age nine I was able to read my favorite book to myself.
Reading in school was very difficult to me. Attending school at age six was the scariest moment in my life. My mom was a teacher at the school I attended, so I was a little comfortable being there. I will never forget my kindergarten year; remember as if it was yesterday. My teacher was Mrs. Valture, a Caucasian lady who was very pretty but had a bad attitude. Every morning she would call each student to stand up and tell one thing that made you happy. I was always wondered why I was last and some days never called on. As the days continued I started to realize maybe my teacher didn’t like me or I wasn’t smart enough. During recess Mrs. Valture would always ask me to stand beside her outside, away from all the kids, until recess was over.
Through nap time I cried myself to sleep, because I felt my teacher hated me and didn’t want me hear. When it was time to go to lunch I would try to wipe my tears always so my mom wouldn’t see that I was crying. Although I should have known my mom would notice whether I had been crying or not. One day my mom pulled me aside and asked me have I been crying?
Of course as a child I stated, “No I’m just tired”. Around 11:30am our class had reading time

where the teacher would call on somebody to read a page from their favorite book. I was so happy because I was sharing to everybody the book I read every night. Once again I wasn’t called on and it crushed me so much inside to the point where I hated school. So one day I decided to ask my teacher why she never called on me to do activities or make me stand beside her when it was recess time. She leaned down in my face in spoke “I don’t like you; you think your smart because your mom works here….you shouldn’t know how to read first grade level books and I don’t like teaching black kids”
After hearing all those hateful words it really made me realized my own teacher didn’t like me. I never told my mom what Mrs. Valture said to me because I didn’t want to cause trouble. Two weeks past and my mom still didn’t know, but she noticed I stopped reading every night and I would drag in the mornings to school which I never did because I loved school. At that point in my life I felt unwanted, low self-esteem, and depressed. The same routine occurred through the week, but one Friday morning I had enough. I told my mom everything my teacher said to me and how she treated. My mom was so upset that she cried with me and was so hurt that somebody she thought she could trust treated me so badly. The next two weeks I was removed from the school and sent to another school that was thirty minutes away. At that time I hated every teacher I seen and it took me a long time to start reading again. Arriving at my new school was scaring but a relief at the same time. I came across this woman name Mrs. Kimbro. I felt like she was sent from god because she took me in her class and treated me like I was her own daughter. She was Caucasian also but she never judge a child by their color. She knew I could read well so she would have me to read the morning announcements and the alphabet every day. I felt like god blessed me and from then on I was back to a peaceful childhood.
As I grew older and gaining better and better reading skills it made me see reading is what makes people life longer. Without reading you couldn’t enjoy all this world has to offer like reading letters, driving a car learning a new language or world history. School reading was hard at first but as I moved up to different levels I realized reading is my life. I don’t read a lot now but every chance I get I take the time to learn something new.
In my education learning class we read an article about Frederick Douglas. Frederick
Douglas was a slave and was taught to read by his wife. Of course in slavery time, slaves were prohibiting to read or write. After reading the sacrifices Frederick made, inspired me to read more and maybe help someone who can’t read or write. I encountered other experiences in learning to read. Going back to first grade, my teacher thought I should entered the reading book contest. Grand prize was six of your favorite books out the library and free candy. I was nervous at first because I was going to be reading in front of the whole school and my parents. The book I chose was “I never say please”, a book about a young girl who never said please when she wanted something but always got her way. My mom dressed me in this blue dress and fixed my hair, I thought I was going to competition. I was third to go and felt so nervous that my knees were shaking. Then I saw my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Kimbro and she spoke the best encouraging words a seven year old could hear. I stood straight and walked out on stage where I

seen at least three hundred kids and a couple of parents. As I read I had a crackle in my voice but as I continued to read all my nerves went away. I didn’t win but I can in second and my prize was to pick two of my favorite books.
Now that I’m eighteen reading out loud hasn’t been a big issue for me. One technique I do is when the instructor passes out the book of papers, I scan over the words to make sure I can pronounce them correctly. And always before I read I say a small prayer, “lord let me read good today.” It seems weird but it helps, everybody has their own style of reading and saying a small prayer helps me a lot. The media also display that without great reading skills you won’t go far in life. If you couldn’t read, you wouldn’t be able to read contract or apply for a job or school.
Reaching a higher level of reading skills is my number one priority at North Carolina Central.
My instructor Mrs. Johnson tells us, “The dumbest question is not asking one”. I know its some students in the class who don’t like to read out loud. Others learn in different ways and styles to bring their reading level up.
Some kids these days see the rappers and how saying a verse that rhymes changes their life. But not knowing without reading or writing skills you couldn’t write or rap the verses. Lil
Wayne, a rap artist, doesn’t write his lyrics down he just says what on his mind. I notice in a interview, he changes into a professional person. Saying advance words where you’re sitting at home thinking, where did he learn to those words. That’s why I state that reading is important in life because honestly I don’t think you will be able to function correct or live the right way.
Every day I think back on reading my first book with my sister and how she took the time to make sure I knew the words and what they meant. I can honestly say if it wasn’t for her and the guide I wouldn’t be where I am now. I love movies and can watch them all day if I could. I noticed that with every movie there is a book version. The difference between reading about the movie and actually watching is the many ways your mind can imagine things. My favorite movie is “What lies beneath.” I read the book two weeks before the movie was released. As I read I would imagine the feelings and emotion the characters were going through. Once I seen the movie I almost knew what was going to happen next because I gained so much knowledge from just reading.
In conclusion of this narrative essay I can speak from experiences that reading and learning how to read has put such a impact on my life and the goals I have achieved every day.
As was stated in the introduction reading is one of the greatest skills a child or anybody can develop. I’m glad of the adventures I went through and the obstacles I had to go through to have my reading level the way it is today. I encourage everybody in school to read every day no matter what, because without reading it’s no point of living. Reading is life and I know continuing is going to make my life mush easier.