Cole Johnston

Mrs. Grant
UWRT 1101
Draft Due Date: 9/03/2014
Finial Draft Due Date: 9/10/2014

Three Vignettes
Ive never enjoyed reading let alone ever completed a book due to my lack of an
attention span and interest of spending my time sitting and reading words that made me
feel like I was in school. However I do find myself to be literate through other things
such as reading sports magazines, scrolling through the entertainment and sports network
website, and reviewing fitness blogs and articles online. Ive tried reading books on
sports and professional athletes that I take interest on but I cant seem to find myself
ecstatic to sit and read a long novel with only some of the various subjects that Im
concerned about. I realize that there are probably some books out there that I would really
enjoy but I guess I just havent found them although I havent looked. Literacy never
meant much to me in school beside the ability to read and write until a couple weeks ago
when I walked in to UWRT 1101 and Mrs. Grant gave me the understanding that literacy
is not just that but also a way of life which provides knowledge, an escape from cultures,
and even a provider for a foundation that can result in an abundance of opportunities.
Another thing I learned was that people/events called literary sponsors have influenced us
throughout our existence to be literate. During my brief nineteen years of life Ive had
many literary sponsors, Id like to think however that the most important sponsors in my

life were my upbringing through my parents, my love for sports, and my twelfth grade
English teacher Mrs. Cogburn.
My parents have had a major impact on my education because they always
encourage me to do my best but have taken the initiative to watch my grades and punish
me with consequences when Im not reaching my full potential in my academic studies.
Neither of my parents went to a university but this was because my father had an
employment opportunity, with an information technology company called International
Business Machines more commonly known as IBM, straight out of high school where he
worked part-time while completing two years of community college. He had to work hard
and become literate in computer software that has allowed him to move to a prestigious
position where he manages others. My mother went to a small college but was a stay at
home wife until recently when she got a job at the National Institute of Environmental
Health and Sciences where she has had to become literate in scientific areas to complete
her job. They knew what it was like to not be well-educated so they made sure my
siblings and I achieved grades no lower than Bs and were involved in extracurricular
activities along with our community. My oldest sister had trouble in school with a
learning disability so she didnt to well in school, which landed her in community college
where she struggled to get a good education where she could set herself up for a good
employment opportunity. She studied hard and got her certified nursing assistant degree
and now she is working as a nurse in Wake Med. Hospital. My other sister had a hard
time getting through high school with a quality grade point average but luckily she got a
scholar ship to play soccer at Campbell University where she is working extremely hard
to good in school and get a degree in criminal justice. She has made the deans list every

semester to make up for her high school career. The reason I mentioned all that was to
show how I had prime examples in my family of poor literacy and the extra work they
had to put in there life just to make up for their early life. It has taught me that I need to
start right off the bat and make sure I try my hardest to achieve a good literate education
so I dont have to work my butt off extra hard later in life. This made me take action on
my academic life and strive to reach an academic excellence that will prepare me for
college and my future profession. Without there encouragement and constant nagging I
most likely would have had the view that school was a waste of my time and would have
gone with the motions which would result in me not getting grades leading to a poor
education and probably would have landed myself in a college struggling to get myself a
decent education and career.
Another inspiring literate sponsor in my life is my love for sports. Majority of my
literacy is on sports primarily college and professional football. This is the one thing that
I have found to read and actually enjoy! I actually look forward to getting home and
turning on ESPN while surfing the Internet searching for new articles, blog, or videos to
further my knowledge in various athletics. One main aspect of my literacy in athletics
would be fantasy football. I enjoy researching everything I can on players and teams
within the National Football League so I prepare myself to organize a team to compete in
a league of others for prize money. I also discover information of tips and news during
the season to give me an advantage over my opponent. This is the bulk of my reading in
life, which is really helpful to me because without it I wouldnt be keeping my reading
comprehension skills active and I most likely would struggle more with being able to
interpret texts. I think the main reason why I enjoy doing this so much is because I feel

empowered when talking to other about sports. I feel as if Im educating them on topics
that they find curious and my peers come to me for information and suggestions as well.
This is the one of the few things I feel well-educated enough to talk about unlike when
people bring up politics or current events happening in the world that I usually know little
to none about.
One aspect of my literacy in my life came from my senior year in high school in
English four honors with Mrs. Cogburn. To be honest this was a negative literary
influence on my life and by no means was it her fault but she defiantly didnt prevent it.
Of course everyone had to read in high school and take the quizzes, tests, and all that
discussion nonsense. Well I never read any of them but instead I took around ten minutes
to read the novels through spark notes and skimmed videos on YouTube to get a basic
understanding of the assigned reading. I had done that for every required reading I was
given all throughout high school and was able to successfully complete all the
assignments and score respectable grades for not even opening the books. The reason I
picked to talk about Mrs. Cogburns class was because she had told us that reading spark
notes would not help and the only way to pass the class was to actually read and
comprehend the books. Well she knew I had not read the books and skimmed spark notes
so she kept trying to stump me in class asking me questions about the novel and I would
always get them right. In fact I actually scored higher on all the assignments than
majority of my peers and they actually read it. She basically gave me the idea that it was
acceptable to use spark notes and not even have to read her chosen book and I could still
pass the class. In reality it really was like a grade booster because when it came to other
units like poetry I struggled to get decent grades that my parents and I thought was

acceptable. Now during college I can only imagine the brawl Im going to have when the
time comes for me to sit down and read in college. Now I see why it was so vital for me
to open the novels because if I had I would be more prepared and more literate.
All in all it is clear to see that Ive had both negative and positive impacts when it
comes to literacy in my life. These literacy sponsors have shaped me in to the educated
student I am. This does not just affect my life in an academic aspect but also shaped me
as a person and how I see everyday life. For example being able to understand what Im
watching, hearing, or seeing whether it is on television or someone speaking to me in
conversations. It has taught me how to have conversations, read, write, and understand
various things in life that would be troubling for people who were literary challenged and
didnt get the same influences in their life that I have. Who knows where I would be
without these literacy sponsors, which are just some of the many that impacted me in my
life.