Grant 1

Kevon Grant
Professor R. Lawson
English 113A
September 28, 2014
Progression 1 Rough Draft
Word count 1796
Literacy Change
Dreams, Aspirations, and Goals; things we all desire even though every individuals
Differ and can be altered. Nevertheless, can they be possible without significant understanding of
Language and literacy? The answer is no quite commonly, according to the Knapp Bobbi
Academic Literacy website. In todays society, literacy and language are necessary for success.
Literacy, Along with language, allows individuals to apply their literacy experience and skills, to
improve communication between friends, family, teachers, employers or employees. Whereas in
my experience and relationship involving literacy and language never, once did I think about it
Connecting to my goals quite remarkably, until I started to having difficulties which in the end
Helped me come to a conclusion: my dream is related to literacy and language.
Pacing back and forth vividly on the touch line yelling 007; at my players. Each shout is
meet with smoke pouring from my lungs, there was only three minutes left with the score tied
0-0 and each respective team were probing to get the win. Suddenly, the oppositions center
midfielder turns, and send a fantastic diagonal ball towards his teammate the left midfielder. He
expertly take his first touch and immediately races towards goal. Running rapidly towards my
center backs, who tries get in a tackle to deny him the chance of getting through on goal, he
quickly feinted his body to the left and them to the right to evade both my center backs and leave

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them in his trail. One versus one against the keeper, surely he has to score. My dream of lifting
the 8 pound gold is shattered, only one minute remains. Proceeding to goal he then strike the ball
with tremendous force behind it. Ninety-six thousand fans from both sides in the stadium hold
their breath thinking that the ball is sailing straight into the top corner of the goal. In an instant
my goalkeeper manages to get his fingertips to the ball and directs it onto the crossbar. My
goalkeeper then quickly got up off the ground, recovers the ball, and hoof it up field. With only
30 seconds remaining, the ball landed perfectly to my center forward; time stood still as he taps
the ball in the back of the goal. The fans in the stadium went wild, my players and I celebrating
crazed. We jumped on each other, and my player doused me in champagne. Then the referee
blew the final whistle and there I was, lifting the 8 pound gold trophy soaking wet from
champagne.
There it is, my dream: to become a soccer manager. Ever since I was young my only
priority was to watch or play soccer. Every day, after I return home from school, I would drop
my backpack off at the doorway and race off to my uncles house who lived in close proximity,
so I could watch soccer with him, something we both share . Watching soccer with my uncle
caused me to become fascinated by the tactical side of soccer. Being obsessed with soccer caused
me to disrupt my sixth grade teacher daily. Each day I would disrupt the class by arguing or
getting in a fight with a class classmate regarding soccer .To stop this from happening my
teacher moved me to one corner of the classroom, however, to her surprise I still found a way to
interrupt. Therefore she started to send me outside whenever I disrupted the class. Whenever I
got kicked out of class I would borrow a soccer ball and go wandering around campus until the
bell rang for the end of each class. Never before have I had a teacher who sends me outside

Grant 3
without giving me any restrictions on where I could not go. This caused me to get in trouble
intentionally some days so I could go wandering around with a soccer ball at my feet.
Consequently, getting kicked out of class so I could continue my obsession with soccer
begin to affect me massively when I moved to California and my school work started to get
harder to the point where I had no idea how to start, nevertheless finish. Getting kicked out of
class back in Jamaica along with lack of reading was sorely the reason I was starting to struggle.
Every day when I got kick out of class it prevented me from developing my reading to the next
level or learning the required reading strategies that was going to help me answers the questions I
needed to complete my homework. At the start of seventh grade my grades began to suffer, I had
two Bs and two Cs while the rest were Ds. During my struggle I did not ask my teachers for
help because I would had to repeat myself numerous times in order to ensure they would knew
what I need help with. Eventually it was time for my progress report card, racing home from
school so I could get the report out of the mail and dispose it without my parents having a clue
about it. As I opened the mailbox there was nothing inside, regardless I still proceeded to open it
a second time, well the mail man hasnt come ye, was the first thing that came into my mind
after I checked the mail box for a second time, because I knew my parents never collected the
mail ,I always collected it. Upon arriving to the kitchen, I saw my dad what is he doing home so
early, I thought to myself oh well maybe he got off work early, and there it was, the report card
I have been looking for in my dads hand and he was shaking his head with disappointment.
Explain yourself, he said angrily. Well there is no explanation I thought to myself, Should I
say that to him, no way hes already upset. Without any further hesitations I told him I was
having difficulty understanding the material being taught to me at school, however, by contrast,
it was my dream of becoming a soccer manager which resulted in this. After hearing what I had

Grant 4
to say my parents stayed up however long it took to help me with homework that I didnt
understand until they were one hundred percent sure I understood. Furthermore, getting help
with homework from my parents made me feel appreciative of them and safe, because I could
see the sacrifices they were making, and I knew I had someone to rely on.
However, my perspective of this changed when my parents became more observant of
my schooling, by monitoring my progress closely. One weekend, while checking my grades on
Campus Portal my dad noticed, I failed to turn in my homework from the previous weekend.
Get home right now he yelled through the phone. Finally getting home from the park, I had
sweat running down my face from playing soccer in extreme heat. Upon, entering the house I
noticed that we had a guest over, oh great I thought to myself, well who could it be. It was my
grandfather. Hello grandfather I said. Come give me a hug he replied shortly, but Im
sweaty. It doesnt matter. Ok then, I went over to give him a hug and say why didnt you tell
me you're coming over. I wanted it to be a surprise, before my grandfather could finish
replying my dad interrupted saying. Look at this, showing me his phone screen, it was my
grades. You lied to me about completing your homework last week, and I don't tolerate lying.
Youre grounded from playing or watch soccer, because it is preventing you from doing the
work required. With anger boiling inside me, I shouted its not related to what I want to be a
soccer manager, and I stormed away. I then went to take a shower where I consider to myself
being watched closely by parents shows that they don't trust me, which in turn also made me
consider failing my classes and discard the appreciation I had for my parents. After taking a
shower and returning to my room I heard a soft knock on the door. It was my grandfather
someone who has always inspired me to follow my dreams. Kevon you ok. Yes. Your
parents are going to let you read books on the weekends instead of watching soccer. Wow, I

Grant 5
can't believe I have to read my parents boring books on weekends, no way. Well, if you want I
can give you money to buy books or Magazines about soccer. I don't want to read about soccer,
I want to watch it so I can feel the passion. Its your Choice either you choose to let me buy
you books or you can read the books your parents have besides, its a great way to develop your
reading skills while learning more about soccer. Ok soccer books it is. The next weekend
came by rapidly, it was time for me to read. I opened the magazine and said here we go again
reading a boring book, besides I hate reading for Christ sake. As I began to read the Magazine
my assumption changed. I found the magazine to be very entertaining, and informative. It had
information about soccer laws, tactical analysis, and club gestures to fans. One weekend while
reading I came across a section that completely change my attitude towards school, literacy in
particular and how it had nothing to with becoming a soccer manager. In the magazine section, I
read a coachs interview where he stated that his literary level allows him to get the clubs
objectives across without creating any confusion. The coachs statement made me realized that
my dream is connected to literacy therefore, I just have embrace it. From that day forward I
always try my best to read once a week so I can further develop my literacy and language skills.
Reading the coachs Interview also made me reconsider what I think about my parents
monitoring my school progress. Some people are presented with the opportunity to be successful,
but others have to study hard and know every aspect of what they want to do in order to be
successful. My parents knew this was the case and they wanted to make sure I learn all the skills
necessary to be successful have nothing, but praise for them. I am also thankful, my grandfather
introduce me to soccer books and magazines because they have helped me improve my literacy
on top of, learning more about critical aspects needed to make my dream possible.

Grant 6

Works cited
"Park Forest Middle School." Knapp, Bobbi, 7th Academic Literacy / Academic
Literacy Class Expectations. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.