Reading and Interpreting: My Literacy Comprehension and Its Evolution

Growing up, I understood that literacy meant mastering the ability to read and write. Although this still remains true, my personal definition of literacy has matured. To me, literacy is the ability to communicate your own opinions and emotions creatively through writing. It means learning how to interpret another writer’s words and understanding that just because someone’s interpretation may not be the same as yours, doesn’t mean its incorrect. For the duration of my autobiography, I would like to share my experiences that have helped further develop my education.

As a child, I was always eager to learn new things. If my parents taught me anything, I would find a way to apply my knowledge into my everyday life. Independence was huge with my dad, so if I had any questions based on spelling, definitions, etcetera; he would help me find the answers through encyclopedias and dictionaries. Soon enough, I stopped asking questions and started to find answers on my own. One of my earliest childhood memories include reading and interpreting the Childcraft books from the 90’s, with my mom. She always loved listening to me read her stories and allow my imagination and creativity run wild while I made sense of what I was reading. Having supportive parents at that young of an age definitely made a positive impact on my reading skills because they taught me how to analyze the information that was in front of me. I wasn’t just reading words on paper, to me, everything had meaning and I was determined to be able to recognize that.

There is one teacher in particular that I had the pleasure of meeting in middle school, who always pushed me passed my limits. As much as I despised that in the beginning of the school year, towards the end of the year I came to understand that Mr. Montemurro kept pushing me to do better because he saw potential in me and my work. I would stay late day in and day out to make sure my writing was up to his standard. I would attend writing workshops to keep improving myself. Even when I thought my writing was up to par, he would push me to keep editing. He taught me that 70% of writing is editing; when you believe there is nothing more to edit, have someone else read it just to be sure. Chances are, because you wrote it, you won’t see the mistakes. I will forever be grateful for what he was able to teach me, and for bringing out the light in me.As I started to get older, my love for reading kept on growing, however, my love for writing lessened. The more intricate my writing had to be, the less I cared to do it. I lacked the motivation and creativity I once had and it showed. It wasn’t until high school, where I read the book called Grammar Girl by Mignon Fogarty, that I realized I wasn’t alone in feeling this way. Grammar Girl provided me with a fun way to help me write more complex essays. In fact, I still have this book today and continue to use it to improve my writing skills.

I feel as though my ambition for reading and writing was heavily influenced by the examples I’ve provided. Luckily, my parents were well educated and one of my childhood English teachers, Mr. Montemurro, was able to find ways to break me out of that cold, hard writers block. As I continue my college career, I allow my mind to stay open; this way my literacy comprehension continues to evolve.