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When I was 4 years old, my mom took me to this hotel that was holding auditions for children of all ages/experiences to come and audition for commercials. I had loved singing and dancing, so my mom thought it was a great idea to go and try out. When we go there, I was really happy and talked to everyone around me. When it was my turn to audition, I was asked to sing my favorite song. I completely froze up and wouldn't talk. The man told my mom to bring me next year. I sang the whole way home.
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I was really excited for Kindergarten. I remember working with my mom and family all summer on my writing. My writing has always been something that I have been picky about, even from a young age. I always wanted to have good writing. Throughout the whole year in Kindergarten, I would spend so much time with my mom on my writing. I was rewarded at the end of the year for my hard work on practicing my writing that I received a 'Best Handwriting" award which boosted my confidence from then on out.
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The summer before first grade, I did a lot of reading with my mom, especially because we moved to a new area and I had no friends yet. During first grade, my interest in reading really skyrocketed. I was still reading most of my books with my mom, but I loved being at a school with a big library. The librarian showed me the Magic Tree House books and I fell in love with them. Mummies in the Morning was the first chapter book that I had read and finished on my own.
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Ay my school, in grades 4 through 6, the students are required to complete a science project and showcase it at the school-wide science fair for other student and families to view. Along with the project you had to complete a report that you would have to summarize to a group a students and teachers. I was extremely nervous because I hate speaking in front of people. The day finally came for me to present. It went pretty rough at first, but I got through it and have learned how to present better
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In 5th and 6th grade each year, students are given the option to take a spelling test to gather participants for a school-wide spelling bee. I have tried my best to be really good at spelling throughout school and I wanted to try something new, so I took the test in 5th and qualified to participate in the school spelling bee. I still had a fear of talking in front of people, so I was extremely nervous, but I told myself i wouldn't get out in the 1st round. I lasted until the 5th round.
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In 6th grade I hesitantly auditioned with a few of my friends for a cantor position on the school's choir to sing at the school's church on Fridays. Surprisingly, I was given a cantor position and had to go through extra vocal practices. Succeeding in my audition really helped give me confidence with my speaking and presenting that year because I had achieved something that I never thought would have been possible for me. I think singing also helped with my speech and pronunciation a lot.
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In 6th grade my teacher stressed the importance of current events and knowing what is going on. Each week, she would have us find an article or newspaper clipping on a current event in the world, summarize it and present your summary to the class.I cracked under pressure and ended up reading snippets of the article rather than giving my own summary. This experience showed me the importance of being able to comprehend what you have just read and then be able to put it into your own words.
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In 7th grade, our English teacher told us that one of our assignments for the year would be a speech that we would have to give that would be counted a s a big part of our grade. I was a big procrastinator, so I waited until 2 weeks before I would have to give it to start working on it. I had put in a lot of effort with the research and writing, but I really didn't like practicing it with anyone or out loud. The day I gave the speech showed how unprepared I was talking in front of a large group.
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I was so excited to take one of my first college class. I thought it was going to be really easy because it was English. The course was a lot more intense than I expected in terms of writing and how often. I was a really bad procrastinator and as a result, the work and the essays that I turned in for this class were definitely not my best work and I did not receive the grade that I had hoped for in my English course. This experience taught me that writing takes time and it should not be rushed.
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I live in Baltimore, and with everything going on in the world, I decided that I needed to be involved.I got to be there for one of the first nights of protests. It was a surreal experience, and I saw people from all different backgrounds, education levels, race, and ethnicities come together. Seeing people struggle to read signs and understand what was going on or asking for help reading made me appreciate the opportunity I had to go to school to read, write, and speak English
