My first big literacy writing was about 5 years ago during an essay contest at my middle school. It gave me the knowledge and ability to share this knowledge with other people. When I think of literacy, I think of reading and understanding the information I have read. Literacy has played a major role in my life because I didn’t like to read, but I loved to write. A time literacy has been important to me is when I did an essay contest called “Do the Write Thing” on youth violence. I chose youth violence because it is a major problem going on in the United States. The importance of reading and writing during a nationwide challenge where students communicate what they think is important to reduce youth violence.
About 5 years ago, I was in the 8th grade going to a public school, North Parkway Middle School. The school was like any other middle school; they had their good days and their bad days. I started going there in the 6th grade when I was about 12 or 13 years old. When I first got to the school, I didn’t like it because of the way the teachers and students acted. I didn’t do any clubs or sports, just focused on school. I really just went to school to pass on to the next grade, but then again I think that’s what everyone did. Not to say that reading was my favorite subject, but I always enjoyed myself when participating in many of the activities. My school was always having different reading and writing programs, I just never really thought that I was into that kind of stuff. I didn’t take the time to try to figure out what I was into because I don’t like trying new things. I felt like if I tried new things then I wouldn’t like the outcome of it. I never knew that I liked reading until I got to the 8th grade in 2015.
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When I was in middle school, I did not like to read or write at all. However, in April 2015, my language arts teacher told us that there was an essay contest coming up with a reward. No one in the class wanted to do the contest, so the teacher made it a grade. I was about 13 years old and didn’t like school; I just wanted to go to pass to the next grade like any other 13-year-old. Anyway, when she assigned the essay, she gave us a week to complete it. The essay was a challenge nationwide where middle schoolers talked about the impact of youth violence on their lives. Throughout the essays, we talked about what we think should be done to reduce youth violence. Even though it was a grade, the whole class still didn’t complete it. When everyone turned the paper in, she told us that we would know if we won or not in about 6 weeks. I didn’t really care if I won the contest or not, I just wanted the grade for completing it. When the results came back, the principal called me out of class. I didn’t know if I was in trouble or what, but I was scared. When I got to the office, they told me congratulations, I was confused. They gave me an envelope with a letter inside, I opened it and it said “Congratulations! Because of the strength of your writing on youth violence, you have been selected as a Jackson Do the Write Thing School Ambassador.” I was shocked because like I said I didn’t like to write at all, but I guess it was the topic that encouraged me to write. On May 16th, 2015, they had an Awards Breakfast held at Doubletree Hotel. They recognized and gave awards to me, my parents, my teachers, and my principal. The person who wrote the most responsive writings, a parent, and their teacher were given an all-expenses paid trip to Washington DC for a national recognition week, in July 2015. I didn’t win the trip, but even though I didn’t want to write about it, I was glad that I had made it that far. The overall experience at the Awards Ceremony was amazing; I got to meet the superintendent and I got a trophy. I feel like they should do that essay challenge in every grade because the older you get the better you understand youth violence. People don’t even know that youth violence is still happening and it might even be getting worse. Ever since I did that essay contest, it has opened my eyes to writing and why people write.
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