Kramer 1

Riley Kramer
Kelly Bladl
UWRT1101
8 September 2016
WTE 2
Theres the saying boys will be boys and no one knows this better than middle aged
Marine Corps officers. Young marines are goofy, horny, and prime to have fun whenever their
obligations of the day are over. One can suppose that if theyre going off to defend our country,
theyve earned the right to a little social slack. However if you live on base and youre a father to
a daughter, you know that youre going to have to equip them to handle themselves to be the
best they can be in all areas of life. (Another reason military brats are particularly try hards).
The fact that Im a daughter, Im a part of the military social class, and Im in connection with my
familys affluence, I have had very privileged literary sponsors.
The gender and social class aspects of my literary sponsors are very intertwined. My
Dad wanted me to be better than the boys I went to school with. It was both expected of me and
demanded of me if I didnt want to be one of the girls who just married a young marine straight
out of high school. My Dad also wanted more for me than to just be a caretaker and a wife.
Another facet the military social class has is the privilege that comes with having a family
member make the sacrifice of serving. Since I was a military brat I went to some of the most
reputable, funded primary and secondary schools in the country. I attended Bel Air Middle
School (CA), Gaudet Middle School (RI), Croatan High School (NC) and other places with odd,
pretentious names. These schools in addition to the military bases I lived near provided me a
near constant access to new books, new computers, free magazines, and access to after school
study groups whenever I needed. If I wasnt in the military social class, I also dont believe my
literacy would be as strong. Since we were always moving, if we were only there for a year I
would just read books and keep to myself. From my memories, the singular years living

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somewhere was my most significant literary sponsor. I needed reliable people in my life,
constants who wouldnt leave, and I found that in reading.
I come from a very connected extended family, all drawn close because of PopPop.
PopPop was a judge and an influential man in small town Florence, New Jersey; All of my 7
aunts and uncles look up to him, but no one more so than my Dad. PopPop was a firm believer
in public education and college education, promising to give the gift of college to each of his 8
children all whilst paying off a large house, driving a nice car, and providing Grandmom with
hired help. Hes their role model. An effect of everyone in my familys college educations and
well paying jobs, almost every week there are my horse is bigger than your horse competitions
to try to brag that theyre doing better with PopPops gift than the rest of the family. Just last
week my Aunt Connie was in Utah and Uncle Sam had to let everyone know that he was there
last year AND he saw the Olympic stadiums too. All in the huge family group text which really
doesnt have to include all the cousins, but always does. After that statement, Uncle Paul had to
comment that he was there last month and had the BEST dinner in Salt Lake City while he was
hiking. This kind of ridiculous competitivity falls over onto the cousins. Were constantly being
compared, and my Dad loves to brag about how intelligent me and my siblings are. Hes willing
to bleed through the nose to be able to gloat and that pressured me to be insanely literate.
Lexile scores were like candy in my family, in fact, its very well known amongst the family group
text that my 8th grade sister has the lexile score of a college sophomore. While I was young, I
didnt want to let down my family. I didnt want to be the one who they patronized with thats
good too because it wasnt good enough.
My literary sponsors came from privilege, and while that has a negative connotation in
the present day, it strongly supported the progression of my literacy. My gender, military social
class, and family affluence shaped my opportunities for how I learned, what I learned, where I
learned, and how much what I learned was considered worth. With these things, Im affected in
my literacy skills to this very day.