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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