Lopez1

DianaLopez
AnyaConnelly
ENGL5Section70
3August2016
LiteracyNarrative
Fromthedawnoftimemanhashadtoadapttoitsenvironmentinordertosurvive.Ina
waythathasn'tchangedmuchintoday'ssocietymillennialhavetheirneedtosurvivethrough
technology,alwaystryingtogetthelatestIphone,gameapps,hoverboards,etc.Yetthatisntthe
mostcommonadaptionI,theformeremigrant,knowssincemovingaroundalotbecameahabit.
ComingfromMexicoattheageofthreeinsearchofabettereducation,mymotherandIhadto
adaptfast.ShebeganworkinginanapplepackagingfactorythatwasfilledwithSpanish
speakingemployees.Thepeopleinchargemusthavehadtolearnsomespanishinorderto
communicatewiththeirworkerssincealmostallofthemwereofHispanicorLatino
background.I,ontheotherhand,wasenrolledinpreschoolandquicklylearnedEnglish.Yet
aftermovingaroundalot,IwasplacedinEnglishlearningclassesduringsecondgradebecauseI
wasntexcellingliketheotherstudentsandtheneverythingwentdownhillfromthere.Iwasnt
speakingEnglishasproperlyastheotherkids,IbelieveitwasbecauseIstillhadanaccent.It
wasntallsadthough,nowattheageofeighteenIfeelveryconfidentandmuchmorethanIever
didinwriting.Throughmyownperseveranceandthehelpthatcamefromtranslatingformy
mom,whichdevelopedmyspeakingskills.Becomingamoreavidreader,whichwasalsocentral
tomydevelopment,becauseitinfluencedmegreatlyintogivingdepthinmyessays.Lastly,my
highschoolteachershelpedshapemycentraldevelopmentresultinginshapingmywritingstyle.

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Firstoff,ifitwasntformymomIwouldstillbethepassivespeaker,afraidtoleaveher
comfortzone.Afterallthoseyearsoftranslatingatthedoctors,restaurants,andbanks,Isprang
outofmyshellandbecamemoreassertive.IdevelopedasenseofmaturitybecauseIhadtodo
whatnoteverykiddoeshelptheirparentswithdaytodayactivities.Forexample,attheageof
tenItranslateddoctorjargontoanoverprotectivemotherwhichwouldgenerallyresultinmore
questionsthananswersandleavingmeannoyedandagitated.OnlynowdoIunderstandthe
importanceofherconcern.Youcanonlyimaginemyimpatiencequestioningwhyshecouldnt
learnEnglish,shewastheadultandshehadtohandletheadultthings.Thatimpatiencegrew
intofrustration.AsmyEnglishimprovedmySpanishbegantodeteriorateslowlybecauseI
wouldforgetwordsorhowtopronouncethem.FrustrationcamethroughwhenIwasntableto
translatewordsorexplaintheirmeaning.Ifelt,attimes,asifshegaveuponmewhenshedask
foranactuallicensedtranslatorandevengettingmoreupsetwhenthetranslatorwasntdoingit
forher.Itwasasenseofhelplessness.Again,onlynowdoIunderstandherangeronhavingto
relyonsomeonetogetsimpleandcorrectinformation.Italsowasntjustthat,itwastomake
surethatshewasntbeingtreatedinapatronizingordemeaningmannerjustbecauseshedidnt
speakEnglishverywell.Today,aftermanyyearsoftraining,Igladlytranslateforher,Iam
experiencedenoughtowhereIalreadyknowthequestionsshellwanttoask.Afteryears,Iam
veryproudtosaythatmymom,awomanwhomEnglishishersecondlanguage,mademea
betterEnglishspeaker.
Additionally,booksbecamemytemple,escapefromthereality,andasourcethatwould
teachmetheartofliterature.Althoughcontradictory,inmiddleschoolIhatedwritingwith
burningpassionofathousandsuns.Ibelieveitwasineighthgradewhenmymomsfriendwas

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movingbackhometoAustraliaandhadleftmesomebookstoread.Books,whatagreatgiftI
thoughtsarcastically,thelastthingIwantedtodowasdosomethingacademicespeciallyduring
summervacation.IendedupreadingthemsinceIneededsomethingtokeepfromboredom
whenIaccompaniedmymomtoherjobcleaningapartments.Thebooks,fortunately,turnedout
tobemeantformyagerangeandwerepartofafictionalseriesfromauthorAlysonNel.I
becameobsessedwiththebooks.Ifellinlovewiththewayshedescribedthesettings,whatthe
characterslookedlike,andespeciallyhowtheyfelt.IwaslaterintroducedtothePercyJackson
seriesandgoingthrougheachbookinaweekorless.Ilovedhowhewouldalsodescribethe
settingsandcharacters.ByreadingbooksthatweresodetailedIfeltasifIwasthere,Itook
imagerytoawholenewlevelinmywriting.Thesebookshelpedmedevelopedaninterestin
writingthatIdneverthoughtIdhave.IlovedhavingtowritestoriesfreshmanyearbecauseI
wasgiventhefreedomtohaveoraddasmuchdetailasIwanted.Ifeltaneedtoconveyapicture
inthereader'smind.Iwantedthemtohaveacrystalclearpictureofwhatwasgoingoninthe
story,becauseIbelieveditwouldmakethestorymoreinteresting.
Lastly,thetwopeoplethatarealsoresponsibleformydevelopmentinwritingaretwoof
myhighschoolEnglishteachers.Ihitabreakthroughduringmysophomoreyear,eventhoughI
gotthecoolyetverystrictteacher,Imanagedtogobeyondmyexpectations.Shewastheteacher
thatwecouldcrackjokeswithbutwhenitcametimetodoactualwork,weallknewitwastime
tobeseriousinordertoavoidconsequences.ShegaveusalotofworkbutIthinksheknewwe
couldhandleit.AndeventhoughIhadthreeotherclassestodealwithaswell,Ifeltthatclass
wasthespecofdirtthatcouldeithermakeorbreakmygrade.Imustgiveherroughly50percent
ofcreditsinceshedidintroducedmetoastyleofessaywritingthathasstuckwithme.Therest

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ofthecreditbelongstome,theonewhoactuallyhadtostayuplatetypingandprintingthe
essay.DuringmyroughdraftsIsawmyselfalmostreflectingbacktoAlysonNelsbookand
howmuchdetailsheused,andIsawhowIhadimproved.SenioryearIgottheteacherwho
couldmakestudentsandevensomestaffcringeatjusthearinghislastname.Yes,Igotthe
strict,micromanaging,classroomsoquietyoucouldhearamousefart,teacher.Toputitsimply,
everydaymyenglishclasswouldpracticallyprayforasubstituteandwhenwediditwasasif
Godansweredourprayers.Ithinkbacktohowfunnyitwaswhentheentireclassenteredthe
roomandletoutasighwhentheywouldseehimsittinginhischairmarkingthemtardy.Aside
fromthelongandsleepdeprivednightsthatcamealongwithmyseniorproject,IamgladIgot
himbecauseIpushedmyselflikeneverbefore.Iwas,atonepoint,abletofinishadecentessay
in45minutes.Ithelpedmedevelopmygrammar,vocabulary,andthesisstatementsby
practicingthesethingsoverandover.NowIlookbackatmyessayforthatclassandremember
seeingvocabularyIwouldhaveneverknownbefore.Icannowsaythatpushingthelimitswas
worthitbecauseifIwouldnthavesteppedoutofmyboundariesIwouldveneverknownwhatI
amcapablenow.
Insummary,Ihadadaptquicklyinordertostayontrackinschool.IknewifIdidnt
haveastrongfoundationofbasicenglishIwouldstruggleinthefuture.IbenefitedbecauseI
knowIpushmyboundariesandandgobeyondmyownexpectations.IamsoproudtosaythatI
havethecapabilityofproducinganeightpageessay.IamproudtosaythatIroseabovemy
strugglesinenglishandconqueredwhatusedtobemyfearofwritingessays.Withoutthehelp
thatcamefromtranslatingformymom,whichdevelopedmyspeakingskillsreadingbooksthat

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Ienjoyedinfluencingthedevelopmentofmyessaystyle,andtheskillsthatmyhighschool
teacherstaughtme,IwouldntbetheconfidentEnglishstudentIamtoday.