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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 what to expect 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 using “letter people”. From there on out, Ms. Finnicum taught us the

phonics 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, hooking me onto the sea 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

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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. Reading made me feel like I

was watching a movie in my head. 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.

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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. Because reading logs were mandatory, it pushed us to read. 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, my love for reading began to dwindle when it came to poetry,

select short stories, and passages. 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. Over this past summer, I read multiple books for pleasure. I would

consistently have a book on hand no matter if it was a paperback or if it was 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 continue this positive relationship with reading that I have now. Reading is my

escape from reality.