Gianluca Cruz
English 1313
September 24, 2024
Throughout high school, my relationship with reading and writing was a difficult journey marked by uncertainty and growth. I wasn’t the best student in these subjects, I often felt like I was behind my peers. The ease with which others came up with essays was both intimidating and discouraging. However, it was my older brother, Uriel, who became my unexpected guide on this journey, showing me that improvement was possible, even if it wasn’t always easy or fun.
I can still picture myself sitting in my first English class and focusing solely on the first essay assignment page. It felt like a straightforward question: “What does it mean to be a hero?” I remember As i sat there trying to put thoughts together to form a sentence i looked around and saw all my classmates writing notes and putting drafts together. That made me stressed and by the time everyone finished i didn’t even want to think about writing or reading for the rest of the day. A week later when we got our papers returned and i see a big 60 on it , immediately i was so disappointed in myself and was already thinking about how hard the following years would be.
In spite of my failures, I was committed to getting better. That evening, I told Uriel about how bad i did on my paper. He had always been an good with reading and writing. Rather than ignoring me he sat me down and offered me help. He took out a notebook and said, “Let’s break it down.” We talked about what made a hero for hours, and he told me that instead of attempting to be like other people, I should draw from my own experiences.
I learned the value of structure with his help. i was able to put a thesis statement together and how to put my thoughts on paper. Writing was about conveying a message, not merely putting words on paper, as Uriel would frequently tell me. I started to see improvements gradually. I was shocked to see a high 80 on my essay when I got it back the next time. It wasn’t an A but it felt like a huge accomplishment.
Another thing that I had trouble with was reading. Instead of actually understanding the text i was just passing over the words with my eyes. My English teachers pushed us to do in-depth story telling, but i struggled heavily. I first learned about active reading from Uriel. He told me to always write down notes and question the authors writing. This small adjustment changed how i saw texts. I started underlining the parts that i thought were key to the text and wrote down my thoughts. Although it was difficult at first, with practice, I was able to understand the stories we read.
I was making progress, but there were still times when I felt frustrated. On certain days, I would find it difficult to write or to understand a book i tried reading. I frequently felt overstimulated, especially when the stress of exams increased over those weeks. But Uriel reminded me that improvement was a process. As we worked on my most recent writing project one evening, he told me that its okay for it to be hard, that’s how you learn.
By the time I got to my senior year, I had changed drastically. Even though I didn’t think I was the best writer, I felt more confident now. My reading and writing both got better.
When I think back on my time in high school, I see that it involved more than just developing my writing and reading skills. It was about having people believe in you and want what’s good for you. With the support of my brother, I was able to overcome my struggles with reading and writing and i saw a lot of self improvement. I take the knowledge I gained from those early years with me as I go forward, serving as a constant reminder that progress is the result of support and hardship.
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