Christian Pipkin

Mrs. Grant
UWRT 1101
Draft Due: 09/03/014
Three Vignettes
English Class
Literacy is a word that has such an impact on everyones life but, in all honesty until
taking UWRT 1101 at UNC Charlotte I never truly understood the actual meaning of it. Literacy
to me has always meant the ability to read or write and that is it. My literacy was most impacted
when I was about five or six. Thats when I really began to write. I remember my teachers name
was Mrs. Griggs. She taught reading, writing, and math. Im quite sure she probably was
annoyed often by me because I really loved to talk but at the time reading and writing was quite
useless and pointless to me. Mrs. Griggs was honestly one of the best at her job and somehow
found a way to keep me entertained in writing. At the time I was learning to write left handed but
unfortunately I had an accident. I will never forget that day (mostly because Ill always have the
scars) but after that I had to learn to use my right hand to write.
Throughout the years I went through school with really good teachers until Middle
School. From third grade to fifth grade we started every class period with journal entries and
thirty minutes a day practicing cursive. Elementary school to me was the base of my literacy but
once Middle school started my literacy really started to improve. From the first day of class in
Middle school the teachers put fear into every student when announcing that we would have to
take a long and very important writing test when we got to the seventh and tenth grade. As
students we were frightened by this writing test. Math has always come easy to me but not

writing. Just like in elementary school most classes made us write journal entries at the
beginning or end of every class. Fortunately for us they got rid of the writing test the year before
my class had to take them. Looking back I wish they wouldnt have because it would have only
made me a better writer. After middle school I attended West Montgomery High School. It was
here where I met my favorite teacher ever, Mrs. Kimrey. The class she taught was Honors
English II. We did a little reading, however most of the class consisted of various writing
assignments. That class taught me more than any class Ive ever taken. Finally senior year came
and sadly went by way too fast. Most of my classes were taken at the local community college
with the exception of Honors English IV. During the fall semester I took English 111
(Expository Writing) at Montgomery Community College and during the spring semester I had
to take Honors English IV. This was by far my least favorite class because we had to write
several research papers. Overall school has been the number one influence over my literacy so
far, and now Im at UNC Charlotte studying Civil Engineering Technology and Construction
Management. I most definitely couldnt have done it without Mrs. Kimrey or Mrs. Griggs.
My passion
Traditionally for as far back as I can remember my Sundays have been spent watching
the Carolina Panthers, during football season, anyways. Ive always been a die heart fan on the
Panthers along with the Carolina Tar heels. Sports have just always been my passion. Now that
Ive been so interested in sports for so long, I completely understand them and all of their rules.
As a kid though, this was not the case. I didnt understand the rules or the point of the games. As
I mentioned earlier literacy to me used to just mean being able to read and write. From my
UWRT class at UNC Charlotte I have learned that it isnt just about reading and writing but it is
also about comprehending or understanding something. Some people are very literate in reading
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or writing, where as someone else might not be but their literacy might be more into cars or
electronics. This is how sports play in to my case. If there is a sport on television then Im
watching it. Since the day I could walk Ive been playing some type of sport. My favorite sport
used to be baseball, but I also played sports such as basketball, football, and soccer. At a young
age I was able to pick up and learn the rules of these sports very quickly. It was a lot like
learning to read or riding a bike. Every fall I signed up for football, winter was basketball, and
both soccer and baseball in the spring. Quickly I was able to learn the games but mostly thanks
to my dad who taught me even more about each sport after every single practice. Along with
participating in sports I always watched them when I could. I preferred watching my Hometown
teams but any team was good enough for me. These various sports have always been my passion
but once in high school my literacy of sports was expanded a bit.
My first day of high school, I was persuaded to give cross country a try. At first I was
skeptic about it because to me it was just running. I honestly seen no point what so ever in it.
Sure enough I gave it a try and I loved it. Through my experiences with cross country I seen
several injuries (mostly muscle related) and I really learned a lot about them, such as what to do
if I suffered the same injury. I also learned a lot about the human body (mostly legs and core) but
also who knew how much ones arms had to do with running? Did you know if youre in a race
and your legs are tired that if you just focus on moving your arms faster that your legs will
follow? Along with cross country I was also persuaded to wrestle. I must admit it is by far the
hardest sport I have ever done. In wrestling you literally use every muscle in your body. To me
wrestling was hard to comprehend because there are so many moves or skills to learn. I was
absolutely horrible freshman year with a win-loss record of like 4-20. Throughout the years this
came to be the sport that I love the most. Senior year came and I had a record of 40-4 and

finished second place in the state tournament. I may not be the most literate person when it
comes to cars or electronics, or even reading but my literacy and understanding of sports
surpasses most.
Summer
Through middle school and elementary school everyone was forced to do a program
called Accelerated Reader or AR for short. We were required to read books and take online
test for them. Everyone was given a goal to meet as far as points. Each book was worth a certain
amount of points usually depending on the length or difficulty of each book. This was a great
way to boost literacy in our school because at the time prizes were the goal. Everyone read all
the time because we all wanted the prizes that came with successfully completing our points
goal. Admittedly after middle school I really stopped reading. It was quite rare to see me with a
book in my hands. You were much more likely to spot me with some sports equipment in my
hand. The faculty realized that students werent reading anymore so all Honors classes started
assigning summer reading for each class. Each reading had either a paper assigned with it on the
first day of class or a quiz/test in class. Everyone hated this including me but part of that was due
to the selection of readings assigned to us. They were quite boring and uninteresting to us
students. As high school I actually began to appreciate the assignments just a little because they
were a reminder to me that it is important for us to read to improve our writing and literacy in
general. In addition to the summer reading assignments my English II, Mrs. Kimrey assigned the
class five book reports throughout the semester. Also my biology teacher assigned several books
to read with and oral report due with each one. After high school I was almost sure that I was
done with summer reading assignments forever. Sadly, I was wrong. After attending SOAR at
UNC Charlotte I was informed of a summer reading assignment I had in one of my Engineering
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classes. Although they were not fun I really appreciate these summer readings because each one
in some way increases my literacy.
In conclusion, English classes, sports, and summer reading assignments have affected my
literacy the most. All three of these things are what shaped me into where Im at today. English
class and summer readings both had an effect on my ability to both read and write. My role
model Mrs. Kimrey also played a huge role in this as she taught my class and also helped me
revise and edit papers for my expository writing class the following year. Sports had an effect on
my life as far as communication and understanding of how the games are played.