There have been many important events in my life involving my education. Starting in elementary school, school has always not been a fun place for me, more challenging. I have had my ups and downs in my education and especially my reading and writing.

My turning point in my education was in fourth grade. Apparently, my grades had started dropping and I had to take a reading and writing test. I learned I have a reading/learning disability and was behind on my reading level. The next year I was put into resource, which is pretty much like extra help. I would have to leave the class with a couple other kids everyday, and do other work with a different teacher. everytime i would leave the room, I felt weird, confused and left out. At that time, I felt like nothing was happening, especially since I didn’t make any new friends or have any friends there and I didn’t really understand why I was there in the first place. it would be fun sometimes, we would play writing or spelling games on fridays and we would get prizes, and i would be able to walk back to class with a cool little toy. but that was the only reason i liked it, and the rest of fifth grade was not good in many aspects for me. I would miss out on some things. I remember when all the girls had the “talk”, I was taking a reading/writing test, and I walked in half way through the talk and the teacher had to bring me a chair in front of everybody. From that point forward it went pretty well. I had resource every year, and in sixth grade I had actually understood why I was in the class and I met my best friend in that class.

Over the years I really never realized how much it had actually helped me with my reading and made me grow. In ninth grade was my last year of resources, and it was with my best friend! When we found out we both weren’t coming back, we were really sad, devastated and i was really scared. I was so scared that I would have no available help for me when I needed it. After my last year of resourse, that’s when I realized I had actually grown with my skills. I had pretty much gone to resource every other day those two years in eighth and ninth grade, doing homework, and that’s it. I didn’t really need any help, and that felt good! The next three years in high school, the only help I got was extra time on tests, finals and regents, which made me feel a lot more safe and comfortable. If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t even use it that often. Since then I think I have done fine with my reading and writing skills. Although, I do feel like I read slow and I have to reread whatever I read when there’s questions following it, and that my grammar really isn’t the best it could be. I feel as if I word things differently or format it differently.

In high school I really enjoyed reading shakespeare. We read Romeo and Juliet, Othello and Hamlet. Although I didn’t read many I really liked reading them and analysing them and my favorite one was hamlet. I thought we were going to read Macbeth last year, but we never did and I was kind of disappointed. I guess it was easier reading it with the class than on my own in terms of finding out what some words and phrases ment. and if I am being completely honest I don’t think I could have figured out the story without anyone else, it was so confusing. I remember that there was a time in high school that was difficult on my education. Shakespeare made me doubt myself and my reading. but i then realized it was everyone that was partly confused, so it made me feel a little better.

Throughout the years, I have struggled a lot with creative writing. If I don’t have a set subject to write about, I get flustered and frustrated. The last time I remember writing something I actually like was in eighth grade, yeah I know a long time ago. We had just read a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell Tale Heart” and my teacher told us to write an alternate ending to the story.  From what I remember, I wrote that in the jar in the floor, it was actually the old man’s other eye in the jar. I remember I wrote more details but I don’t really remember the story that well. I got it back soon after and I got a 100% on it and I was so proud of myself! Since then I haven’t really done anything like that. In high school we always stuck to reading stories and then writing essays on them,(which I did enjoy reading). This year has been good for creative writing so far! I like having a topic to write about and just going with it with the free writes we have done this year. I remember when we would read books in high school and I liked them, I would know what I was talking about and it felt so easy and free to write the essay or answer questions. Besides writing in school, I really don’t. The only thing that may count is writing down my dreams when I wake up, which I think turned out pretty neat.

Throughout the years I feel like I have definitely grown with my reading and writing skills. I haven’t had it easy in my education. I am very proud of myself and how far I have come since then. I used to think I was slow and not “normal”. Since then, I have met more people that have been through similar experiences. it made me feel not alone and it honestly makes me feel happy.