https://medium.com/@bdonohue_2688/brendan-donohue-2a4ec27e1f69
Discovering What Literacy Means To ME
As a college student at the University of New England, being inundated with reading and writing assignments is a chaotic state that I have come to terms with. Reading and writing is the foundation of all systems and branches of education, and the further one travels down the path of higher education, the greater the literacy expectations grow. However literacy expectations do not exist exclusively in the education atmosphere.
In today’s society, nearly all professional occupations require the ability to read and write. While literacy is a requirement that plays such a significant and all encompassing role; most people read their first words or write their first in a very individual and personal way. Although I do not usually spend my free time delving into books or scribbling away thoughts and ideas in a journal, I do enjoy reading and writing in my own unique way. I believe this largely has to do with my educational influences and the influence of my parents. If one moment stands out in particular to me as a turning point or an eye opening moment to the limitless world of literacy, I would have to say it came while writing my first ever research paper.
It was nearly a decade ago that I sat in Ms. Callaghan’s fifth grade classroom, shy and passive, I was likely daydreaming about sports. However, Ms. Callaghan, whom most students would describe as sweet and kind and easy on her students, was about to drop a massive bomb of an assignment. Up until fifth grade most literary assignments in grade school were reading a moderate number of pages or writing short stories on a student’s personal interest. But today was different, the jolly, lighthearted, redhead Ms. Callaghan began to write on the board at the front of the room “eight pages typed, topic of your choice…” My stomach flipped, “that can’t be for… me? Us?” At the time I had only ever written personal pieces based on topics like “what I did this weekend” or “what friends mean to me”, but this would be different. Ms. Callaghan continued to write out the requirements of the paper on the board and with each one, my heart beat faster and my palms began to sweat.
Potential topics for the paper began to fly through my brain, “should I write about hockey? It is my favorite sport and I could probably write a lot about it. Or how about dogs… I love dogs.” But this was a very daunting project and I struggled to think of a topic that would suffice for such a literary expedition.
Coincidentally, I had been dealing with some personal health issues at around the same time and I had just been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. It was painful time for me, both physically and emotionally, I was constantly scared. I was unsure of what Crohn’s disease truly was, or what it meant for my future. But in a very sudden yet settling way, the idea about using the topic of my recent diagnosis for my research paper came to mind, and it seemed perfect.
Between learning more about my own disease and stepping into an entirely new world of research and writing, I knew this project would offer a lot to learn.
We spent the remainder of class reviewing a rubric handed out by Ms. Callaghan and brainstorming for topic ideas. Soon after, we moved into the research phase. This involved going to the library as a class and learning where to find relevant and supportive material both online as well as from informational in the library. I found the online method of collecting and reviewing information to be much quicker and easier, although it was a sometimes a challenge to differentiate credible information from not. As I began to accrue a mass of information and applying the information in my paper, I felt a rush of accomplishment and satisfaction as I felt scholarly and adult-like. As someone who usually only spent time reading and writing in school as required, I was quickly discovering that I thoroughly enjoyed this full process of collecting information and applying it in a lengthy research style paper.
As my paper came along and began to come together I decided to bring it home to my mother. I told her that I wanted her to proofread it for me, but I truly wanted to show her because of how proud I was of it. Unfortunately she was unaware of this so she gave me some rather harsh criticism for parts of my paper that were insufficient.
Although proofreading with her was more blunt than I had expected, having someone else read my paper was a very beneficial step that I had not previously known the importance of. About three weeks had gone by, and it was getting close to completion time, and I had butterflies in my stomach.
By this point I had paper nearly complete, all my sources properly cited in the painfully-tedious-to-use-MLA format that was required, and all that was left to do was proofread my paper until I felt happy with it. Much to my surprise, although I had been now staring at the same paper for weeks, there were still some blatantly obvious mistakes that existed, such as improper punctuation, and run on sentences. I never felt like I was truly ready to let the paper go and finally submit it to my teacher, I always felt like there was something I was missing or some aspect that I could improve. When the day finally came, I sat in the library with all my classmates and Ms. Callaghan.
There was a very tense quietness in the room; some students were still furiously typing away, others were playing games on their computer as their overly involved parent had completed their paperfor the a week prior. But I sat in front of my computer silently, with a slight grin. Although I still felt a looming sense of there was something I could improve in my paper, I could not help but feel proud, and a immense sense of accomplishment.
I had started this project a few weeks earlier as someone who avoided extracurricular reading and writing at almost all costs, and now I had just completed a lengthy research paper. I learned a lot of new information during that process, not only about the topic and Crohn’s disease and how it impacted my health, but about what reading and writing meant to me. And I discovered that I enjoy reading informative, non-fiction works that can improve my knowledge on real world issues and contain information that is applicable to my surroundings.
Looking back now as a young adult and student in college, I am very thankful and appreciative of this first experience with writing a research paper. Initially it was very daunting, but learning how to efficiently find credible information and apply it to my paper in an informative way is a crucial skill that I still frequently use today. I can honestly say that to me, reading and writing is most enjoyable and meaningful when it is done in a way that expands my horizons and teaches me new things, like learning about living with Crohn’s disease. Looking forward I hope to continue to enjoy reading and writing in an informative way, as well as test the waters of other types of literary works such as novels and creative writing pieces.
