Literacy History Assignment 1

    My name is Donovan Arroyo and I am a senior at NJCU. I am majoring in business management and will graduate in the fall of 2021. My interests are baseball and video games. I played baseball for 14 years and played for NJCU last year. I only play video games when I am bored to just pass the time. I took this class because, I had to but also because I thought it would be interesting.

    In first grade, my teacher told me about a book club. I was unsure about joining the club but my friend pushed me to do so. We only met on Tuesdays, and we read all kinds of books. My teacher ran the book club, so having my friend and teacher there made it more fun and relaxing. That is my earliest memory of literacy. My teacher and friends encouraged me to keep up the book club all throughout first grade. My mother was also a big supporter. She would leave work early to make sure I made it to the club on time. I remember her always telling me I was becoming such a good reader. Hearing those words from my mother and having the support from my friends and teacher made me feel good and my first real sense of literacy.

    Growing up, my all time favorite thing to do was speak. A teacher wrote in my report card that I was the "president" because I would get up from my desk and walk around the class talking to my classmates at any given point. Whenever my teacher would ask questions in class about the assignment or homework, my hand was the first hand up, only because I wanted to talk, not because I had the right answer. Of course, my talking got me into a lot of trouble. It was frustrating because you were told to talk in school but I would get detention for doing so. Looking back on it now, I just did not know when enough was enough.  When I had to take public speaking in college, I was excited for it. I do not get stage fright or any kind of anxiety when I have to talk in front of groups of people. My biggest role model is my mother. She is a very outgoing person, just like me. She is not afraid to say how she really feels and does not get nervous no matter what the situation is.

    However, when I got to high school, I did not like literacy. I remember reading and learning about Shakespeare and not understanding the language that was being used. I had teachers who did not care about their job so they made class tough and didn't care to help me. Now, I do not really know how I feel about it. I do not really like the reading part of it but I like the talking, listening, and writing. Talking and listening are things I am very good at. Writing is something you can use to express yourself and your emotions, like in a journal, or story.