BLOG 1 - Week 1 Assignment

 

Hi there! My name is Mirna Canon. This semester marks my final semester as a senior at NJCU before I graduate. I'm majoring in psychology and minoring in media arts. My interests and pastimes include reading, music production, DJing, singing, working out, photography and attending concerts. I am taking this class because it is a requirement and I am happy it is a requirement because we can learn so much from education and literature as it is vital for us to succeed.I am always happy to learn more and want to continue being a lifelong learner even after I graduate.


When I was two years old, my parents left Guatemala to come to the United States. It was difficult to grow up with a single immigrant mother. My mom worked two to three jobs as a housekeeper while I spent most of my day at school and the after-school care program. This meant that my mother had to work most of the time to provide for me; as a result, she rarely had time to sit down and assist me with my schoolwork or read me a bedtime story. As a child, I would often hear my mother speaking her native tongue, kaqchikel, when she spoke on the phone with relatives. She would converse in Spanish with me, but since it was not her first language and she was not able to go to school as a child, she was not very proficient in writing or reading. She would come to me in times of need because I was her only daughter who was learning how to read/write in english at school.The majority of the crucial forms we would receive, she would want me to read, complete or translate. documents from the doctor's office, correspondence, school paperwork, etc. I don't feel bad about having to perform the most of these things at a young age, even if I had to do them out of necessity. I feel like even though it was difficult and a lot put on my shoulders, it taught me a lot about learning independently. Even though my native language is Spanish, I am definitely more proficient in English reading and writing because It was taught the most to me. Now that I am older I feel more frustrated because my spanish is not as good as I would want it to be. 

I can still clearly remember my first experience holding a book when I entered my pre-kinder class. I recall being amazed by all of the decorations and the things we had planned to do for the remainder of the school day. During circle time, Ms. Candy and Ms. Millie, my instructors, would read aloud to us. However, it was in kindergarten—when my teacher appointed me to be her assistant—that I felt most literate. I felt really special and proud of myself for finishing my work and being able to support my fellow classmates. I was the only student who could pronounce the words right, so she would have me walk around helping my classmates when we had reading time in class.. I also first came across the leap frog in first grade. I always liked reading it aloud since I could follow along and the sound effects added to the story's appeal. Tutors helped us with homework and projects at the after-school program I attended. Having support from them increased my confidence in my work, which undoubtedly contributed to my success in the remaining years of my education.

Before going to college, I felt like I was constantly so busy with homework and other responsibilities that I never had time to read a book. I used to simply read the books that were assigned to me in class, but one day I suddenly understood how unhealthy it is to swipe through images on my phone, and I made the decision to read more books instead of using it. Since social media is so readily available to us in the digital era, I believe that children are not reading as much these days. It is insane to think about how one year olds own their own iPads now and how much research has stated the negative effects of their behavior growing up with devices. Literacy fosters critical thinking, communication, and information, it is vital. I still read books now whenever I have free time. I occasionally do it before bed since it improves my quality of sleep, and other times it's throughout my commute to and from school. My high school teacher, Ms. Woodley, was one of the only people who encouraged me to read more books. She was really strict with us and would constantly go on tirades about how we had to read more books instead of using our phones. For every chapter we read, she taught us and made us annotate thoroughly. As I grew up I realized how correct she was. Since reading Franz Kafka for the first time, I have been enthralled with his writing style and have continued to read more of his works as well as other philosophy-related works.