Aryan Erfani For most of us, literacy is a subject that came naturally at the beginning of our lives.

We were not aware that we were becoming literate, and yet we did so more efficiently than we ever will again in our lives. I can remember back around the time in which I was beginning to learn how to speak. I was born and raised in America, yet I didnt learn how to speak English first. My first language was Farsi, which I picked up earlier than English because I was born to Iranian parents. I began to interact more with the society around me once I started attending preschool and through that I learned English. From these roots, I already had a diversified outlook on literacy and the world around me. Since I learned Farsi as my first language, I had very little confidence in my ability to speak English. Though my English was just as developed as any other kid my age, I stayed shy and quiet for most my early school years. I also had difficulty making friends outside of the Iranian community as a result of this. I remember how many of my peers would try to approach me, yet I would barely talk to them no matter how much they tried to include me in their social group. I pent up and sealed away all of my ideas, feelings, and thoughts. This was disastrous towards my learning of literacy because I was no longer thinking creatively. I would show up to school, finish my work in a robotic fashion, and go home. I am forever grateful for the loving and caring way in which my parents raised me and how they taught me to be an independent thinker. However, the latter was never able to fully develop in me as a result of me casting away my own identity. In this kind of mindset, I was unable to develop my literature until a catalyst came and provoked it. I began to make more friends in middle school and started to gain faith in my abilities as an individual. I opened up

more in class discussions and people began to have an idea of who I was. As a result of this, my confidence in my writing drastically improved and for the first time, I felt an active awareness of my knowledge in literacy. Entering into high school, I noticed several changes in my literacy. In the past I was a very slow writer because I was indulged in my own fear of having bad ideas. I noticed that this had changed, the fear being greatly diminished and my writing pace greatly improved. I began to incorporate more scholarly vocabulary which I had not used prior to that point because I didnt want my paper to stand out. I felt confidence when turning in my assignments, and actually preferred others to see what I had written so that they could comment on it. The mental prison I had held myself captive in was beginning to release the thoughts I had kept locked inside. But these ideas still hadnt fully blossomed and were lacking in purpose and meaning. My literacy had no substance, it had no soul. I will never forget my 11th grade English teacher, Mr. Whetsel, and the method in which he gave his lectures. Up to that point, I had never seen such passion in teaching. I wasnt aware of it at the time, but this man became the catalyst that invoked my voice into my writing. He was more focused on the content of my work rather than its mechanical aspects. His insight into the deeper meanings of literature inspired me to shatter the chains that I had bound onto myself. My perspective on literature had completely changed as a result of this teacher and I began to look more carefully for the authors purpose and meaning when reading. My greatest regret about being in his class was that I never gave him the proper appreciation that he deserved. Ever since him, I enjoyed attending English class and further developing my literacy.

My new comprehension of literature strongly reflected itself in my personality. I no longer had a faade to hide my real self. I started to say unique and interesting things that I normally would have never expressed. This was partly inspired by some of the school readings I had enjoyed, such as Catcher in the Rye. More people began to view me as someone interesting, an individual they would like to talk to. My number of friends began to increase and in correlation with it, so did my confidence. Recently I have lost some of this confidence that had peaked in my high school days. This is perhaps in response to not having worked on improving my literacy in such a long time. In retrospect, literacy was the variable that had been holding me back when I considered it negative, and helped me accelerate forward when I viewed it as something positive. In my last year of high school, I had become the opposite of what I was as a child. I openly shared my thoughts and participated in class any chance I was given. Though I was still somewhat uncomfortable sharing some things, I still pushed myself to say what was on my mind. At one point in the year we were given the task to take a stance on a topic we cared about and write an argumentative essay on it. I ended up writing a paper about the death penalty being given to criminals in the U.S, which I was strongly against. As I wrote my argument, I realized that I was bursting with emotion and will to prove myself right. I usually would ponder for some time before typing a paper, but this time proved to be different. My mind was giving me clear and concise ideas to work with and I fluidly connected them all. When my paper was peer edited by several other students and returned to me, I was ecstatic that my emotions had gotten through to them. One student seemed to be genuinely touched by my writing, giving me a feeling of accomplishment which I previously had not experienced. Though I had written a paper that I was overjoyed with, I had not appropriately adhered to the writing restrictions that my teacher had

given me. I was forced to write another section within my paper in order to fully comply with her rules. This had a tragic effect on my paper and had an obvious distinction from the rest of it. My passion wasnt as evident in my final draft and the overall quality of my paper was downgraded. The downfall of this paper I took so much pride in writing hurt me but the fact that I had written such a thing gave me confidence in my literacy. Before my senior year in high school, I had never truly experienced an intrinsic motivation to complete an assignment. I would always do as I was told, and complete my work. After being genuinely interested in doing the work I was assigned, some of the uncertainty in my future has been purged. Though its not directly related to my writing, I am now more confident that I can find a career in which I actually enjoy doing my work, and in turn have better work ethic. Literature has proved to have an effect on every major aspect of my life. It has been a year since my last English class and I am finally taking it again in college. Needless to say, writing is much more fun and enjoyable here for a number of reasons. So far, my assignments have been just to write blogs which display my initial thoughts after reading a selection. These assignments have given me a lot of freedom in my writing, through which Ive been able to comfortably improve my literacy. Professor Wray teaches in a very enthusiastic and unique style which has inspired me to be just as enthusiastic as him when it comes to writing. I have never seen his enthusiasm even show a hint of faltering. The amount of fun he has from simply instructing a small group of students about literacy gives me a strong drive to put my all into my work. Im able to view writing as something that I chose to do, rather than be forced into doing. The environment presented in this class allows me to open up to my peers without any fear whatsoever about someone judging my work. The amount of communication we have in

class gives me a feeling of being in a community of writers, constantly expressing our ideas with one another. My history with literacy has been very dynamic. My early experiences with literature were without having a sense of who I was and I viewed literacy very systematically. As I grew older, I began to materialize my own thoughts in my writing and started to have an identity through it. By the end of high school, I was able to personify my feelings into my writing, and feel truly satisfied with my work. As I continue into my future, I can see that my literacy will play a large role in it. There are many paths I can take, but literature will be a part of my daily life for the rest of my life. Literacy is like the water that gives us our roots, and is a necessary part of our lives even after we fully blossom.