Everyone has struggles they have to overcome. My was being confidence in myself and being fearless through reading. Writing and reading has allowed me to meet such amazing and inspirational people who have given me the confidence to be able to become not only a better reader and writer but also a better person. However my journey getting here was a long strenuous process . It was not only difficult and sometimes embarrassing. During my first year in the United States, reading and writing was a weak point for me. It often took me a while to grasp ideas and words that were said. As a kid I also had a slight stuttering problem but at the age of twelve it had gotten really worse and it become more and more easy to hear. My English teacher at the time was Ms. Casey. She persistent in helping me over come this hurdle. After school I would go to her classroom, and she would help go over the things I had difficulty understanding. We also went over the spelling and pronunciation of certain words I had troubles with. She was patience, and welcomed me with open arms if only she had a Martinelli apple juice next to her. As time went on and our relationship grow and had gotten stronger, she felt almost like a second mon to me. She would ask if I had questions in class , and also given the the space and confidence I needed to be able to ask questions on my own. After every session I also met with friend named Masai, he was smart, funny, extremely charismatic. He would help me review the things I went over with Ms. Casey. He was able to quickly come up with additional details about my reading and writing. He would help me with certain things I forgot to ask or was unable to ask to Ms. Casey. We were both responsible for keeping each other in check when ever were distracted or unfocused in class. After every session we would read the first 25 pages of Spiderman comic books. We always read exactly 25 pages because we believed that at the year 2025 we would move in together and create our own comic book store. We read almost all the Spiderman comic books because it was our way of connecting. He was my best mate. Both Masai and Ms. Casey were huge reasons why I was able to read and write effective back in middle and even till today. I will be forever grateful.
A turning point in my education was my first year of high school. A tall myelinated woman History teacher would change my attitude towards education. I remember it being the first week in her class and we were assigned a quiz. I definitely didn’t do my best on it. I scored very poorly and could remember her side stare at me when she gave back the papers. The next day in class I sat at the back of the class because I was extremely embarrassed of my performance, but after class ended and a few self talk sessions later. I went over to her desk and asked her for some help. She looked at me and asked what my name was and I told her, she got suck on my last name as most people do, and I had to pronounce it a few times for her to get it, but she loved my name and was it represented. She talked about her roots and we both found things in common. she found beautify in something that I never really accepted about myself because of the bullying I experience with it. She was tough, funny and always knew which buttons to push to get the best out of me. She often would called me out during class whenever I loosed focus and purposely asked me question she knew I didn’t know the answers too just to see how I would react. She knew me better than I knew my self. She brought out a more serious and focused version of my self which I need during that time . All in all she instilled in me confidence. She helped me become a better student and better person she is Ms. Harry.
Writing has honestly changed my life. Earlier this year I took on the habit of journaling, it was difficult at first because I lack the consistency to key up with it. As time went on I had slowly gotten better at it. Journaling instilled in me the skill of constancy, organization, vulnerability and honesty with my self. I started out writing about the things I wanted to accomplish each day and also outlined the chores I had for myself for the rest if the week. . I then added the things I was grateful for and small elements such as affirmations to nourish a positive mindset. I wrote more about the things I wanted to in my life, such as my career choice, goals and who I wanted to become. I also wrote about my improving my confidence and things that hinder my confidence. I realized that for the only way my journey would be effective was to honest with myself and talked about the things I deeply struggled with, and I did it was difficult but I really wanted to see result in myself. As time when I continued to journal for months . I saw slight changes in my thought process and my overall view in life. I was more optimistic, less anxious about what the future would hold and more present with myself and who I was. During my early teen age years, I started to care about the opinions others had about me. I wrote about my struggles with how others perceived body. I wrote about the pain it caused and reflect back on it. I asked myself questions and would respond to them with the answers that the greatest version of my self would say. I wrote then my responses and read them over and over again and till I didn’t feel the need to. Journaling helped me achieved that is at peace with my past, more patient about what to come and more open to ideals/suggestions about ways I could still improve my life. To anyone struggling with a speech impediment or any other disorder or disabilities know that you loved, you are perfect just the way you are, and to also remember that it is not your fault for happen to you.
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