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Alexandra Clark
Ms. Breanne Weber
UWRT 1101
21 September 2015
Literacy Vignettes
As a child, literacy was an important and fun tool to explore. My mom is an educator and
always valued all kinds of education and knowledge. From the time Cameron, my twin brother,
and I were born, education played a major role in our lives. With the help and continued
guidance of our mother, we learned how to read and write by the age of three. One of my favorite
books as a child was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin Jr and Eric
Carle. To this day, I remember the joy and satisfaction I felt when I was finally able to read this
book all by myself. I still havent figured out if it was read with the help of memory or literary
merit. In the end, it is still my earliest memory of reading.
Reading came naturally to me, writing on the other hand took time, dedication, and
practice. As a female, I took pride in my penmanship, and spent countless of hours and days
perfecting my craft. I used to go out on the patio every Saturday morning just to practice and
modify my writing habits. Needless to say, my parents encouraged this behavior and provided
endless amounts of paper and pencils for each play date. After I accomplished and perfected my
writing I then, moved on to cursive. Growing up, I marveled at my mothers hand writing and
immaculate signature. It was by far the coolest and most intriguing thing to watch. As soon as
my mother noticed my interest in cursive, she immediately nurtured it by buying a plethora of
books on the ins and outs of cursive.

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In time, reading and writing became on of my favorite past times. When I finally started
elementary school, all of my moms hard work started to pay off. Cameron and I were both able
to skip first grade and place into Advanced Learning classes. The Advanced Learning (AL)
program at my elementary school taught me a great deal about literacy and its structure. To
encourage reading our AL teacher would have us compete to see who could read the most books,
and successfully pass reading exams. This experience helped me realized that I took more of a
liking to, and could retain more information about fictional writing in comparison to non
fictional. For instance, all of the books on the the Junie B. Jones series were my all time
favorites. Junie B. Jones books appealed to me at the time because of its humor and descriptive
nature. I was intrigued and instantly able to form a picture of whatever was taking place in the
book. When it comes to reading, I need the story to catch my attention, and to be entertained.
In my household, Sunday mornings were dedicated to reading. We owned a gamut of
books, and lived within five minutes of a library. All excuses were null and void when it came to
reading on Sundays. Oddly enough, it was actually something we all looked forward to. As time
progressed, my passion for reading and writing faded and was quickly replaced by math.
Reading and writing no longer made me happy and became more of a burden. Without practice
and enthusiasm towards writing, I started to see a decline in my writing skills and creativity. As
one can imagine, this frustrated me more than anything. For some reason I couldnt effectively
express my thoughts on paper. I expressed my concerns with my mother and she replied Its all
in your head, youre an excellent writer. You just need to continue to read and practice. With
that being said, I went on a reading spree for the next couple of months and started to write
recreationally instead of just for assignments. In time, I started to become more comfortable with
my writing and accepted my style for what it was.

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Like most times in my life, once I complete one obstacle, another one appears. I am now
in middle school, and attend a Performing Arts and Global Studies driven academy. The whole
focus of our sixth grade year was to find an art that we were passionate about, and interested in.
In able to do this we would have to explore every art and study that the school offered.
Throughout this experience I discovered my interest in piano. I had been told that I had the
perfect fingers for piano and would excel in the class. This was enough for me to add piano to
my schedule. I ended up taking an introduction to piano, and loved it. My teacher, Ms. Palermo,
was amazing and worked with us one-on-one to enhance and perfect our skill. She always took
the time to compliment me on my crisp notes and finger alignment. Lets just say I was
flattered. As time progressed and the difficulty in the pieces increased my talent wasnt as clear
as before. For some reason I could successfully play while reading notes. As a true perfectionist
this killed me. Part of me felt like I wasnt taking it seriously and just need to practice more.
With this being said I started to dedicate more, and more of my time to piano. I even requested a
legit keyboard as a Christmas present oppose to anything else. After hours of practicing in and
out of class, my talent still wasnt at the level I wanted it to be.
It was the day before our spring concert. I kept playing my piece over and over again, and
no progress was being made. Ms. Palermo could see my frustration, and came to give me a good
pep talk. She went on to say that my frustration was coming from a place of comparison. Instead
of focusing on my improvements and growth, I was comparing myself to others. This is a
conversation I have never forgotten, and constantly remind myself of on a daily basis. This was
my first true taste of failure and it taught me how to walk away with my head held high, and
celebrate my achievements no matter how little or big they are. After all, I had tried my best and
played up to my full potential. That was all I could do. When it comes to writing and literacy I

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have to remind myself of this conversation. I tend to compare my writing to others instead of
learning and accepting my style of writing. Over time, I have come to the conclusion that I am a
conversational writer. Historical and imaginative/creative writing have never come easy to me. In
the end, I learned that all skills require practice, and knowing as well as working at your own
level. Luckily, I have repeatedly had people placed in my life to help/remind me to work at my
own level and see the potential that exists within.
Her name is Nidonna Nicholson, but we all call her Bunnie. I cannot go any further
without explaining the meaning behind the name Bunnie. Nidonna was born on March 29,
1997, which just so happened to be Easter. After being washed, examined, and tested, the doctors
presented her to her loved ones in a bunny costume. From that moment on she has gone by the
name Bunnie, with a few adjustments to the spelling of course. I have known Bunnie for the past
four years, but she became a huge sponsor of mine within the past two years.
The Academy at Smith, my former high school, is where it all started. With a total of
approximately 230 students, and a graduating class of 53 it was hard not to know everyone.
Relationships and bonds with every student in ones graduating class was inevitable. Some
relationships are temporary and others will last a lifetime. If I have it my way, our friendship will
last a lifetime. Oddly enough, we didnt really get to know each other until the second semester
of our junior year. As obvious opposites, one would never have pictured us as friends. Bunnie
was known for being outgoing and a true free spirit, while I on the other hand, am very reserved
and can sometimes come off as shy. Some how on a long, dreaded, and unavoidable walk from
lunch to Chemistry we began to talk and havent stopped since.
As time progressed, we realized that we had way more in common than we would have
ever thought. In a way it felt like we lived parallel lives. It was junior year and we received our

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schedules for the year. To our surprise we had every single class together for both semesters.
Unfortunately, that wasnt our only surprise. Our counselor, Mrs. Atkinson, who always pushed
us to go beyond our comfort zones and challenge ourselves, altered our schedules and ended up
putting us in three Advanced Placement classes and two online classes. At that very moment we
were devastated, and ready to change our schedules as soon as possible. While we walked up to
Mrs. Atkinsons office we were acting as true pessimist. Not a positive word was thought or
spoken. Once we reached Mrs. Atkinsons office to express our disapproval, we were
automatically denied. Apparently, we were trying to take the easy way out and failing to
challenge ourselves. After nearly 20 minutes of hearing us complain and justify our reasons for
changing our schedules she responded I want to extend a challenge to the both of you. Her
challenge was for us to uplift one another instead of feed off of each others negativity and doubt.
At that moment we were over the conversation and couldnt really wrap our minds around her
logic.
In due time we began to take her advice to heart and truly apply it. Whenever a class
started to get difficult or either of us felt like quitting, we encourage one another to continue to
give our all. Wherever one of us fell short, the other one excelled. For instance, Bunnie is a
naturally phenomenal writer. With little effort she is able to write a well thought out, creative,
and expressive piece. I on the other hand, am not comfortable with or confident in my writing
capabilities so I depended on Nidonna heavily. Whenever a paper was due I would have her
proof read, and help brainstorm different ideas and concepts. We would break down assignments,
and in due time the unachievable assignment was now completed. I learned so much about my
literacy potential, and style because of these experiences. Without the help, guidance, and

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encouragement of Bunnie and Mrs. Atkinson, there is no way I would have graduated Summa
Cum Laude and with a true sense of achievement. Teamwork truly makes the dream work.
After all, literacy is present in all walks of life. Knowledge can be gained from some of
lifes hardest and least expected moments. No matter the case, literacy will always be of value,
and something that should be appreciated. Literacy is something that we will all have to work at,
because there is always room for improvement. I am grateful for all of the encounters I have had
with literacy because they have helped to shape me into the person and writer I am today. It is
important to remember that there is no way for your voice to be heard, if you dont know how to
effectively express it.