Blog 1: My Literacy

 Hi everyone, my name is Bella Serrano, I am a sports management major and a senior here at NJCU. I am on the women’s wrestling team but redshirting this year because I tore my ACL. I’m from Belmar, New Jersey. I’m an assistant coach at Colombia High School for their girls wrestling program. I do lots of dog sitting for extra cash and my enjoyment since I can’t afford my own dog. If you need anyone to watch your dog, I’m available! Other interests include CrossFit, yoga, nutrition and boardgames. 

My earliest experience of becoming literate took place at home in Spanish and at school in English. Growing up with parents whose first language is Spanish, naturally I was raised speaking mostly Spanish at home. At school I had to transition speaking, read, and writing all in English. A vivid memory I have is when my elementary school color-coded our books by reading level. I remember starting off at a color that was considered a low reading level and feeling out of place. I never felt that my teachers helped or cared enough to support me in becoming more literate.

My experience in elementary school with the lack of support from teachers continued throughout my education. This is what resulted in my extreme discouragement surrounding literacy.

Going back to the color coding of books, I found that the education system loved to rank students based on their reading levels in every way possible. Other students of higher reading level made me, and the others feel less than. I was always confused about how my teachers and school seemed perfectly capable of helping students learn but never gave me that attentiveness. This seemed to be the theme among minority students like myself. I still tried to do the best I could and was always a good student.

My determination has put me where I am today in terms of literacy, but I still feel like there is so much more to learn. Continuing getting good grades made me begin to feel more literate. I am still striving to improve my literacy, especially through this class.

I enjoy listening to podcasts whenever possible. I find that I learn and take in much more information when I listen to something rather than reading it. Funny enough, I also always prefer to have subtitles on while I’m watching TV and will subconsciously read everything as I’m listening. I also frequently will read informational articles I come across such as current events. It is frustrating to have put so much effort into learning Spanish at home and English at school and now feeling like I am just mediocre at both.

 I’m still currently looking for a role model. I will take applications through email. At this time, complete literacy seems quite far away. Comparing my writing to others, I do not feel that I am at the same level. I use literacy in networking with others and trying to read more often. My roommate Julia continues to sponsor my literacy development by commenting on and helping me revise my work. Through this I am learning to improve my literacy.