My Literacy History-Mirka Ortiz


More than 32.9 percent of Union City’s population has not achieved a high school education, projecting that the new generations will not be literary proficient. Like many of the residents in the town, my parents did not attend college nor had a proper education in their home country. Their minute literary exposure affected my studies throughout my prime learning years. Growing up in Union City, a Spanish speaking city, meant that my ability to understand how to read and write in English would be difficult. My first language I became literate was Spanish, with the efforts of my parents to maintain their culture and pass them to me, they focused my learning on being in Spanish. Such an act made me less motivated to practice English as I was engulfed in a community where the colloquial language was understandable amongst ourselves. Though as I began to see my classmates advance into challenging classes allowing for more academic opportunities, it inspired me to become literate in English.

In school, I had the help of my teachers to guide me to be proficient in English with the constant worksheet practices during class and after school. It was difficult for my parents to be able to offer me their help at home in completing my school work in English because they did not learn the language. They will put television shows and movies with English subtitles for I to grasp the language much quicker. I will carry a dictionary around to translate unknown words that broaden my vocabulary in which served to be frustrated in always having a book in my hand to be able to have a conversation with a classmate. I was able to connect with my fifth-grade language arts teacher regarding the difficulty in learning a new language. Her parents were immigrants from Cuba who weren’t able to teach her English. With her strong work ethic and determination, she was able to surpass her obstacle and later on accomplish her dreams. Her story served as a motivation for me to be able to continue improving my English literacy because knowing the language opened many doors that eased her path to accomplishing her dreams. As an aspiring doctor being able to communicate with all my patients is essential as I could assure the patient that their health is important to me.

Furthermore, once I saw myself picking up the dictionary less and communicating fluently with my peers, I began to feel literate. During the years I have learned the impact that literacy has on my life. Through literature, I can connect my emotions with authors and be able to gain advice. Also, I can express my opinion and be able to exercise the power literacy has in having the ability to write scientific research papers in which fellow scientists can review and expand my findings. My career continues to inspire my literacy development as I will want in the near future to not have a language barrier between my coworkers and patients.


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