Growing up, I wasn't the kid that got excited about getting anything that had to do with reading as a gift. I liked things that kept me moving or things that kept me quiet and controlled for long periods of time. Some of these items include video games, toys, movies, music, guns, motorized vehicles, and other things of this nature. I always saw things like books as a way of learning and not as something I wanted to take advantage of in my free time. Therefore, I believed that what I perceived as learning should be kept for the eight hours a day and five days a week I spent at school and not for my "extra time." My extra time consisting of the other sixteen hours I wasn't in school. Every day when I got home from school I yearned to go outside and play with my friends or hit the video games as soon as possible. It was the beginning of my pro life as a procrastinator. I was only ever looking forward to the next best thing. All through grade school I read to get by, just like most of my peers, and I didn't realize the negative impact I was creating for myself. But when I graduated from high school I knew I wanted to fly, so I joined the Air Force and now studying technical manuals for the C130 is the most important part of my job. I realized that I needed reading for so much more than just getting by to the next test or the next grade; I needed it so that I could perform a task that keeps people alive. And from there it progressed; I decided to go to college not just to get a degree, but to get a higher knowledge of how the world works. However, it took me eighteen years to realize that reading is an important and pertinent skill to surviving and excelling in the modern world. Because of this I believe literacy is the basis for all knowledge and should always be key topic of discussion among political debates. Children would be more likely to succeed in society if they had a higher knowledge and understanding of literacy and its basis.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The Importance of Literacy
Growing up, I wasn't the kid that got excited about getting anything that had to do with reading as a gift. I liked things that kept me moving or things that kept me quiet and controlled for long periods of time. Some of these items include video games, toys, movies, music, guns, motorized vehicles, and other things of this nature. I always saw things like books as a way of learning and not as something I wanted to take advantage of in my free time. Therefore, I believed that what I perceived as learning should be kept for the eight hours a day and five days a week I spent at school and not for my "extra time." My extra time consisting of the other sixteen hours I wasn't in school. Every day when I got home from school I yearned to go outside and play with my friends or hit the video games as soon as possible. It was the beginning of my pro life as a procrastinator. I was only ever looking forward to the next best thing. All through grade school I read to get by, just like most of my peers, and I didn't realize the negative impact I was creating for myself. But when I graduated from high school I knew I wanted to fly, so I joined the Air Force and now studying technical manuals for the C130 is the most important part of my job. I realized that I needed reading for so much more than just getting by to the next test or the next grade; I needed it so that I could perform a task that keeps people alive. And from there it progressed; I decided to go to college not just to get a degree, but to get a higher knowledge of how the world works. However, it took me eighteen years to realize that reading is an important and pertinent skill to surviving and excelling in the modern world. Because of this I believe literacy is the basis for all knowledge and should always be key topic of discussion among political debates. Children would be more likely to succeed in society if they had a higher knowledge and understanding of literacy and its basis.
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I see where you are coming. I never realized how interesting certain things could be until I started reading. I begun loving to read and I too feel that everyone should learn to read because it provides insight on how things work in the world.
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