Jackie Styrcula 9/1/13 Literacy Memoir In the twenty years of my life I have grown up to be a person I never thought I would

be today. When I was younger I was painfully shy, partly because I was an only child. I went to a small Lutheran school in Grayslake, Illinois but later on moved to Massachusetts. I will always remember my first day of third grade. My mom walked with me into the classroom. It was filled with colorful posters, the alphabet, and pictures of different countries. I could almost feel a tear coming down my cheek. I did not want her to leave my side. I thought the other kids would not like me. As the years went by my shyness continued, I had a hard time making friends because I was so quiet. I was always the victim because I was the shy one, kids thought I was weird because I did not talk as much as they did and would call me names. I could never stick up for myself since I was too shy, but I was always good at sticking up for other people because my mom taught me right from wrong. Little did I know that sticking up for others would affect my social literacy. I will never forget this boy named Brandon. He went to school with me in kindergarten through second grade. Brandon and myself shared a few things in common. He was quiet as well. Brandon had a prosthetic arm and the kids would always look at him differently and make fun of him, but I knew that was wrong. One day he took his prosthetic arm off for gym. Two of my classmates started tossing it back and forth while Brandon stood there helpless. I knew I had to step in and I was so proud of myself for it. That day Brandon and I became good friends. That was the day I knew

if I could stick up for someone else I should be able to stick up for myself as well. This event brought me out of my shell and affected my social literacy. I no longer thought that I was weird or different from the other kids. I thought of myself as special. When I was in the second grade my parents told me the worst news Ive ever had. We were moving to Massachusetts because of my dads new job. I was completely devastated. I had to leave my family and friends behind in Illinois and start a whole new life. At the time this seemed like the worst thing that could happen to me. So many thoughts went through my mind, would I make new friends, where am I going to school and how could my parents do this to me. My first day of third grade was finally here. At this point I wanted to be home schooled because I was so shy. My teachers name was Mrs. Smith. She was one of the nicest ladies Ive ever met. Mrs. Smith was always in a good mood, which made me want to go to school. I would always look forward to seeing her because she put me in a good mood especially on bad days. I was struggling with the transition from a small Lutheran school to a big public school. My previous school did not prepare me for the workload at my new school. I struggled a lot with reading, writing, and math. I processed material slower than the other children. I never got the help I needed at my previous school and my skills were a grade level or two behind. I was so embarrassed that the other kids were so advanced compared to myself. Mrs. Smith noticed that I was having a difficult time with these subjects compared to the other students. She gave me individualized attention during the day as well as after school and set me up with a tutor for the weekdays. She really cared about me and

it meant a lot. Although Mrs. Smith was doing everything to help she thought I might have a learning disability. I remember being pulled out of my class to take all these tests, which were beyond my knowledge. I had to put blocks together and form shapes with them. They also tested my math and reading skills. The tests showed that I had a learning disability and that is why I was processing things slower than normal. I was put on a 504 plan, which allowed extra time on tests, note takers, a separate room to take tests in and I would get extra clarifications on directions. If it were not for Mrs. Smith my conventional literacy skills would not have improved and I would not be where I am today. Although I still struggle with math, reading and writing I am not embarrassed about it and know I need to get help if I need it.. She impacted my life and made me want to teach elementary school. If I had not moved and gone through this experience who knows where I would be today My first year of college was life changing. My freshman year I went to Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. It was a great opportunity for me, a private school with a great academic reputation. I live in Massachusetts; therefore I was along way from home for the first time in my life. My mom and I said our goodbyes and at that second I realized I was not going to see her again until thanksgiving. It reminded me of when I first started kindergarten. Living on my own I had to become independent, meaning I had to be self-reliant and I could no longer rely on my parents for everything. I had to use the resources around me, such as my professors, the library, friends and peers in order to be successful. I went into college as a biology major. I was interested in becoming a nurse. After shadowing nurses at the hospital and taking biology courses, I realized it was not for me. The

material was too confusing and I was struggling to get a C even with tutoring and seeing my professor one on one. When I was shadowing the nurses I had expectations of what I thought they did. When I went to shadow I realized that a lot of the patients were not nice and did not care how much the nurses were doing for them. I was distraught because I knew that I did not want to be a nurse and could not handle the pressure in the medical field. I knew that scientific literacy was not for me. I asked myself what have I always loved? The answer was children, which led me to apply to UNCC for the dual program of special and elementary education. I needed a change, something bigger and more diverse. Roanoke College was a very small school with about 2,000 students. It was like high school all over again. I appreciated the small class size but I wanted to be at a university with thousands of individuals. I wanted to college experience. I was so excited when I got my acceptance letter to UNCC. I had come to this conclusion that it does not matter where I am as long as I am doing what I love. College made me realize that you really need to do what you love in order to be successful and happy. College expanded my social and academic literacies. It has turned me into a more social person. I am not afraid to make new friends as much as I was in previous years. I take my academics more seriously now than I ever had before because I realize that college is the most important part of your life. So far college has taught me life is what you make it and each year is a new learning experience for everyone. Each year I find that my social literacy is expanded because of new experiences in my life.