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The first time I opened my eyes and saw the world around me. Also, the very first time I saw the people who I've heard while in my mother’s womb. The same people who influenced me throughout my life. My mother, my father, and my maternal grandmother, and sister all welcoming me. -
Still a baby at 6 months I began to starting making noises in response to being talked to. My mother says at this age she would ask me how I was feeling today and I would open my mouth and make noises responding to her questions. Although I was not able to say words, I believe I knew by her tone and pitch that a response was necessary or required. -
At 1 year old, I spoke my first word: Da-da -
My mother would read stories to my sister and I before bed. Sometimes they came from a book and other times they were stories in her head that her mother told her before bed. -
I would listen to the music my parents played. I would know the words to the songs from memorization and sing along not knowing what most words meant. -
At 7, I read a story about counting sheep when you have trouble sleeping. I tried it and it worked! Today, I still count when having trouble falling into sleep, despite what some research claims. I can still picture them, each with a number, jumping over the fence as I did when I was a child. -
The 3rd grade band teacher embarrassed me in front of the entire class when I pronounced the word "ask" as ''axe". I remember him yelling, "Ask, Ask, Askkkk, you are not chopping down anything!" Feeling embarrassed, I did not ask my question that day but I worked on my pronunciation. I never made the mistake again in his presence. I’m led to believe this is how I heard the words pronounced growing up. I had no clue I’ve said it wrong the entire time. -
At the breakfast table, I would always read the back and the sides of the cereal boxes. I would play the games and read the recipes provided and nutrition facts. -
In 7th grade, I took French. First time I ever encountered another language and its use of feminine and masculine words. It made me understand grammar and how its used with more meaning than what I was provided in English language. -
I never liked the task of writing until taking this course. I would write papers for completion but not to produce good work. This course provided great understanding that I know to process subconsciously when writing.