Bossart 1

Kayla Bossart
Blandford
UWRT 1101-028
20 October 2015
It All Started with the Letter People
Walking into kindergarten, my emotions were in a flurry. I was so excited to start school
and meet new friends, but at the same time I was anxious for everything that entailed the word
school. My teacher, Ms. Finnicum, was really nice to us little munchkins as we started to
get acclimated to her cozy classroom. After she introduced what kindergarten was about, she
wasted no time in telling us how we were going to go about this year. From behind her back
she pulled out a plastic blow up of the letter A that resembled a person. She told us that we
would be learning how to read and write by the letter people. From there on out, Ms.
Finnicum taught us the phoenix of each letter, any special rules about it, how to write it and so
much more; teaching about a new person every couple of days until we finished the alphabet.
Throughout kindergarten, reading and writing clicked for me very early on, hooking me onto the
seas of words that were contained in paper covers, called books.
From the very start of school, everyone had high expectations of me; I was the oldest
child and the oldest grandchild, putting all of the weight on me to do well. I took this role, which
led me to become a perfectionist. Everything had to be just right, I could not handle a mistake.
In the third grade we had to write sloppy-copy journals; however, I wanted mine to be perfect.
Therefore, I would erase any stray marks and mistakes that inhibited my journal to be perfect,
making me slower than the rest of my class. My teacher, Mrs. Clark, caught on to what I was

Bossart 2
doing and made me use a pen instead of a pencil. However, I did not like this concept of
permanence, so I brought an erasable pen from home to use instead. Eventually, Mrs. Clark
found out about my secret and took all of my erasers away. This characteristic has always made
me a slow worker, however it has not prohibited me from learning quicker than others. For
example, in the third grade, we would have spelling tests, along with pre-tests each week.
However, my teacher gave special tests as extra credit to the kids who made a perfect score on
the pre-tests on Wednesdays. The special tests would have an advanced spelling list for the test
with words such as photosynthesis and other difficult vocabulary. I was even able to make
A+s with ease on the more challenging learning. Throughout elementary school, I was very
accelerated in my reading and writing skills, leading me to win the school spelling bee. Even
though being a perfectionist was positive and negative for me, it helped me excel early on.
In elementary school, I absolutely loved to read. I was able to read higher level books
than the rest of my peers and overall understand more in the classroom than them. In the second
grade, I was the only one in my class able to spell Tyrannosaurus-Rex without any hesitation.
My reading was very accelerated, making library day one of my favorite days of the week. With
the help of the letter people, I was able to read countless books, loving the way reading made
me feel like I was watching a movie. Reading was my escape from the world. Every chance I
could get, my nose was always pressed in a book. My favorite place to read was down in my
front yard against the big oak tree. I would sit there for hours reading books such as The Magic
Treehouse, The Boxcar Children, Junie B. Jones, Nancy Drew, and Charlie Bone. I would read
until the sun was no longer shining for me to be able to see the words on the page. Reading
came as easily as breathing for me, making me love what was hidden behind the covers of books.

Bossart 3
Throughout middle school and high school, my love for reading persisted. I loved to be
entranced by the words on the page. However, time started to play a role in how much I was
able to read. As I continued to get older, I started to have less and less time for leisure, which
included reading. My time would be consumed by doing homework, studying, sports, and the
basic everyday routine. However, in select grades ranging from sixth grade to freshman year, I
had reading logs for homework. This pushed us to read, making it mandatory we did so. I did
not mind reading logs because then, it was obligatory that I did something I enjoyed. However,
as I got older mandatory leisure reading became less predominant. Reading was something that
did not happen due to having limited time to do so. When I got into high school, we had to read
what the teacher assigned. I did not mind this, unless it was something that was not fiction. I
enjoyed reading To Kill a Mockingbird, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Count of Monte
Cristo; however, when it came to poetry and select short stories and passages, was when my love
of reading started to dwindle. I despised poetry and poetry despised me. However, overall,
throughout my school years reading was not something that I minded, making it bearable when
my English teacher told us to grab a book off of the cart and to turn to page 243.
Over the years, I have become fond of reading; my favorite part being able to see the
scenes play out in my head. When I am able to choose what I read and have the time, I quite
rather enjoy it. Over this past summer, I read multiple books for pleasure. I would consistently
have a book on hand no matter if it was paper back or on my kindle. My eyes would flutter
across the pages of countless books while sitting by the pool enjoying the sunshine, walking up
and down cruise ship stairs, lying in bed getting ready to go to sleep, and even when I just
wanted to sit down and relax while my brain soared through a novel. As I get older, I hope to

Bossart 4
continue this positive relationship with reading that I have now. Reading is my escape from
reality into the figure of my imagination.