Literacy History Blog

Literacy History Blog Entry

 

Hello, 

My name is Paris Johnson, I am a Criminal Justice major here at NJCU. Although this is my 4th year in school this is considered my junior year, I had a bit of a rough time adjusting to college during my freshman year in 2021 which resulted in me having to do an extra year which I am still grateful for because I have learned a lot throughout my college experience; It has molded me into the person that I am today. Some things that I am interested in are Fashion, Music, Reading, and working out. The reason  I decided to take this class was because I felt it would be interesting to learn about literacy on a different level and to broaden my perspective on the subject.

 To be completely honest, I never really took an interest in literacy when I was younger. It was always a difficult subject for me and not because I was incapable of understanding what I was reading or because I couldn’t write; It was because none of the books or articles that were assigned to me in school were ever able to grasp my attention. The moment I began to fall in love with literacy and the art of storytelling and entering a whole new world through words was when I was in 5th grade and we were assigned to read this book titled “Esperanza Rising”. I remember the book being about a young girl who was trying to escape the hardships of losing her father to a tragic death and her having to then be separated from her grandmother and fleeing the country to escape her family members who were trying to steal from them. At that age, I was so intrigued by the story and it was the very first time I took an interest in a book and wasn't forced to read it, the teacher who introduced me to this story name was Ms. Robinson. 

When I truly started to feel completely literate and began to build a passion for reading and writing which is something I used to dread and is also something I still kind of struggle with might I add; is when I was a Junior in High school and my English teacher, her name Ms. Valentino, made learning English fun with her joyous spirit and bright personality. That helped me stay intrigued and kept me interested in the stories I was reading at the time which were mostly Shakespeare and I began to slowly fall in love with the art of writing and the way authors can create life through words. Then, when my senior year began I was moved up to AP English and ended up passing the year with an A. 

As a Junior in college and also now being 21 years of age, I see that literacy is more than just the definition of being able to read or write, I now understand how impactful the tool is to be literate and how it shapes the way you understand and interact with the world. I value the art of literacy because it gives me endless access to knowledge and helps me express myself and my thoughts in ways that other people can connect to me and provide me with different perspectives on the way they also see the world. I use literacy every day in my personal life, whether it's through reading articles, Instagram posts, work documents, text messaging or even journaling. The books that I continue to discover which captivate me and allow me to explore a whole new universe through words and the professors whom I meet every semester are the things that add to my development in literacy.