Autobiographical Essay # III

Krystal Robinson
English 329
Professor Boland
03 February 2009
Autobiographical Essay 111
I recall being in elementary school and learning how to write. The paper, brown with large aqua lines on it, was provided to each student by the teacher. I was first taught how to make small letters, then large letters. As previously stated, the paper was lined with aqua lines, and it seemed that I always wrote outside of the lines because I wrote my letters too big. The writing experience for me was fun. When I started to write sentences, even three or four word sentences like, “I ran to mother,” were exciting to write. Later, as I improved my reading skills, I was able to attend the reading lab. In the lab they had several cards in a box. The boxes and cards were different colors. Say for instance, if your reading level was one, you would pull books from the box that was yellow. After you finished reading all of the books in the yellow box, then you were promoted to the green box, which held books for those who were on the second level of reading and so on. I moved very quickly through the boxes because I enjoyed reading so much.
Another literacy tool that my elementary school used to promote reading was having the book-mobile come to our campus. The book- mobile was a library on wheels. They would visit our school about once every month. Every student had the opportunity to browse through the rolling library and choose whatever books he or she wanted to read. We were able to check the books out until the next time the book-mobile came to our school. That gave us at least a good three to four weeks to read our books. I think all of the students were excited to be able to pick and choose the books of their choice. I did not have the privilege of having a lot of books in my house when I was growing up, so I really appreciated the book-mobile and the reading lab.
The events that took place then, have left an indelible imprint on my desire for knowledge. I understand that reading affords me the opportunity to know some things that I ordinarily would not know. Still today, I enjoy reading a good and interesting book. There is no particular type of genre that I prefer, as long as it teaches me something. The goal with literacy is to be taught and to learn. Had I not learned to appreciate books when I was an adolescent, perhaps I would feel towards them as so many young people feel towards them today—nonchalant. There are books to be written and books to be published. My dream is that one day I can author several books that will in some way encourage, inspire, motivate, and leave an indelible imprint on the mind of someone.