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Kyle Brown

Professor Jan Rieman

English 1103 - 006

February 3, 2011

Memorable Moments
I can think of so many great reading and writing moments in my life. At the same

time there have been some very awful moments where I felt like I couldn’t concentrate

and didn’t understand reading. The two events I am choosing for this writing to explore

piece are both from my early experiences with reading. The first is when I did not know

how to read and was very frustrated. The second one is about how great it was when I

finally learned to read.

When I was five years old and just starting kindergarten I was really focused on

one goal for the year: to learn how to read. We started off the year not doing much along

the lines of reading. Soon after November rolled around we were paired with a “reading

buddy.” This was a fifth-grade student who already knew how to read that came by every

Friday. As we started off I thought reading would just come very quickly and I was angry

when I couldn’t read after the first day! That was just the kind of child I was. If I couldn’t

learn something very quickly I would get upset and frustrated. I went home after school

that day and I cried for at least an hour. I felt like I would never be able to read. What I

didn’t realize was that everyone in my class was going through the same thing as me.

They were all having trouble just like me. I changed my mind after my reading buddy

came by the next week.

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The whole week at school I was anxious to get to reading buddies because I just

wanted to give reading a try again. The day finally came and I was ready for it. We got

started and I just focused on reading and learning new words. By the end of the class I

was able to read one of the new reader books. It was short but it was probably the greatest

moment of my life up to that point. I was so excited to show my parents that I could read

a book and I read it to my whole family that night. In the next few weeks I put all of my

concentration into reading during the playtime. I normally would have been playing

house or with LEGOs but this week was different. I would take all of my new reader

books into the reading corner and try to sound out every word I could. I spent so much

time on this at home as well that in the next month or so I was reading all of my new

reader books. I was so overjoyed with my new ability that I would read everything I saw.

I would read billboards, magazine covers, and newspaper titles.

These are probably the greatest memories I have of reading. The first one,

although it was frustrating, helped me realize that no one is good at something the very

first time they try it. You have to put some work in and you will get good results out of it.

The second experience gave me the confidence to go out and gain all of the knowledge I

could get my hands on. Having the ability to read gave me the tools and a foundation for

learning what I know today. Both good and bad, these experiences molded me into the

reader and writer I am today.