“Enlightenment”

            My literary journey is not complete by any means, but I think I have finally found the motivation I need to push me in the right direction to get to the point where I am literate. I had similar experiences in my early years of school as the two kids, Keisha and Troy, from “Writing for Their Lives”, written by Jabari Mahiri and Soraya Sablo. Both of these kids where very talented writers outside of class but thought that in school they could never be authentic in their writing. I had these same experiences from when I began writing in school till about sophomore year of high school. I knew I could write deep down and did so in my free time through a journal, but I never got the chance to write about something I was passionate about in school. But during my junior year of high school, I had an English teacher who changed my view of writing and made my mind wonder to places I have never really been before, which opened my mind to new points of view and in the end made me come out of my shell to become appreciative of articulate and well-spoken individuals, and aspired to be like them.

My English teachers name was Dr. Sidle. He was my teacher during my junior year of high school and his class was focused around the idea of non-conformity and transcendentalism. He connected with me first as a person before he ever connected with me as a teacher. The first time I walked into his class he told us about his life. He went from being a college dropout, to becoming an enlisted marine, to the become a PHD in English, and teaching at a top 5 high school in Virginia, Saint Stephens and Saint Agnes School. He had me interested in him as a person because of his unique journey, as well as respected because he was a former marine. Dr. Sidle taught us about people from David Thoreau to Ambrose Bierce to Phillis Wheatley. There were two main inspirations that helped me realize gain confidence in my English skills and try and develop myself as a literate person.

The first inspiration I gained from Dr. Sidles class was this quote from Walden written by David Thoreau, “What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.” The second quote ties in with the first quote, and it is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Both motivated me to get past the fact that I was looked at as a “dumb” jock. The reason this class motivated me so much is because my teacher harped on these two concepts the whole year. This developed a mindset and confidence in me that I could be smart and have intelligent ideas while also being an athlete. The idea of being a non-conformist has always stuck with me since then and has played an important role in my literacy journey since that class. This is when I started to become aware of articulate individuals around me. I started to study people I came across in my everyday life and tried to learn as much from them as I could to incorporate into my own life to develop myself as a literate person.

 

  • THINGS I TOOK FROM ACTORS:

*Try and incorporate secondary sources

 

 

 

 

  • THINGS I TOOK FROM POLITICAL FIGUES:

*Try and incorporate secondary sources

 

 

 

 

  • THINGS I TOOK FROM BROTHER/DAD/UNCLE:

*Try and incorporate secondary sources

 

 

 

 

Conclusion: