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Hannah Neuville

Professor

ENC 1101- 0M06

12 October 2017

Paper One Final Draft

Gain Your Own Kind of Confidence

Literacy can come in many ways, whether its natural or its an obstacle, but even in

some cases, it can either be your best friend or it can be your worst enemy. Growing up,

literacy was considered an obstacle, and my worst enemy. In spite of the fact, this all changed

with the start of confidence. The word confidence is the feeling or belief that one can rely on

someone or something. In the beginning of my academic career, confidence is what I lacked.

Getting called on in class was always the feeling you have before you get on a plane, or can I

just say, a nervous breakdown. I once said, But enough is enough the start of my high

school career. In that certain moment, I could establish my literacy. Learning to become

confident in my reading and writing was my literacy, my goal, my whole focus of the rest of my

academic career. If you didnt know, literacy is the ability to read and write. When it came to

my literacy, I was always embarrassed, whether it was reading aloud, taking IQ tests, or even

not sounding sophisticated enough. It has always been a struggle of mine, but l recently learned

many ways and strategies to improve my own personal literacy.

The first sight of my struggle was the beginning of my high school career, I was put in an

intensive reading class due to the bad scores I received on my reading and writing portion of

the eighth-grade test, the FCAT. That was the moment, where I felt embarrassed and never
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wanted to be confident in anything I did from then on. I could relate my life somewhat to

Malcolm Xs story, Learning to Read. I could consider Malcolm X as someone you would call a

trouble maker when he was young. He was never interested in grades (this is where Malcolm

and I didnt relate). Although, in 1945 he started to figure out his life when he was sentenced to

prison. This was what I considered his wakeup call. As he served his time in jail, he got bored,

not knowing what to do. He then, discovered a library with books that could occupy in the time

being. Day by day, he read more and more books, and when he was released he felt as if he was

a different person. I never took education that seriously to where I would study extra hours to

be excellent, I just studied enough to be average. This is where I went wrong, when gaining

confidence, it doesnt come natural, it is earned.

Literacy doesnt just consist of reading, it also consists of writing, which also was never

my strong suit. I was never interested in writing, even when it was considered fun in middle

school. I was never appealed by having to write so many words on a paper, I rather just draw,

but that eventually had to change. I was that person that every time my teacher and/or

professor mentioned writing an essay, I always rolled my eyes out of spite I have for writing

essays. I was never engaged, until I read the article All Writing is Autobiographical by Donald

M. Murray. Not only did the author mention many different ways you can, not only improve

your writing, but a way to help yourself engage in your own writing. Donald M. Murray, gave

me the idea to start adding in my own childhood memories or family events in my writing,

because it keeps the reader interested and most importantly, yourself. It helps you seek

compassion in your writing. I never thought my writing was good enough to present in front of

the class or even my parents, but once Mr. Murray mentioned, my autobiography exists in the
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examples I use. I thought to myself that I dont have to worry about not sounding like my

other classmates, because writing should all be different and unique with our own personal

twist to it. In other words, make your writing autobiographical.

If I could think of the one or many persons that has shaped me and my academic career,

I would definitely say, my parents, my brother, and the everyday technology that we use. We

can call these group of people: my literacy sponsors. A Literacy sponsor can go from an

institution, to technology, and then lead to your parents or someone important in your life.

Lets refresh back to my first set of sponsors, my parents. Throughout high school, I was in need

of help in literacy, my parents did whatever they could to help me improve. Whether it was

tutoring sessions, eBooks, or even extra after school classes that would be hard for their work

schedules, but they were always there. If I couldnt get a tutor, there was always my brother

that I went to for moral support. A possible relatable event would be my first week of college,

when I was assigned my first research paper. I had absolutely no idea as to what I was doing,

but my brother was always on speed dial to rescue me. In the complete opposite of myself, my

brother loved writing, so he was always happy to help. In the worst, but most best-case

scenario, I would turn to technology as my last literacy sponsor. Google, was my best friend

when it came to literacy, whether it came to using eBooks, practice tests, and/or online tutors

to help me with my reading and wrtiting. Overall, these literacy sponsors have benefitted me

and helped me gain my confidence, so finding your sponsors, is a great start.

I tend to write about the negative effects or obstacles of my career, but believe it or not,

there are positives. After I graduated high school with a 4.03 GPA (thanks to my sponsors), I

started attending my first summer semester at the University of Central Florida, and I started
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seeing improvement. I was enrolled in SLS 1501 and philosophy. My SLS class only consisted of

writing and speaking aloud. Just my type, right? I was so nervous, but I realized that in my class

I sort of stood out as a good speaker. Thats when I started seeing myself grow in confidence. At

the end of the semester for my final I had to write a research paper; usually when everyone

hears that word they freak out, but its okay because I did too. It wasnt so bad after all. The use

of the article Create a Research Space by John Swales, could benefit anyones writing when it

comes to conducting a research paper. The steps of writing a research paper are: Establishing a

territory, establishing a niche, and then occupying a niche. If you read this article in detail, itll

give you everything you need to know on how you should improve your literacy. Another

concept I grasped in college is having rhetorical knowledge. Rhetorical Knowledge, is the ability

to analyze and act on understandings of audiences, purposes, and contexts. For an example,

lets say Im in a conversation about the reading last week in philosophy. Due to my laziness, I

didnt read the article I was assigned, so when two people are engaged in a conversation about

the readings, you shouldnt join in because you dont have the rhetorical knowledge. Having

rhetorical knowledge is very important in gaining confidence, because in order to back up your

claim you need evidence and/or rhetorical knowledge. Know your information and know your

confidence.

Now that Im a freshman in college, I can finally say that after all these years, I have

gained my confidence in reading and writing. Growing up I felt as if I was below level and not

sophisticated enough, but my reading and writing is unique in its own personal way. Now, I

stick my ground when I am talking or presenting in class through my rhetorical knowledge, and I

couldnt have done it without my literacy sponsors. Now, Im living the life in college. Im totally
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kidding, I still have homework assignments every night and exams every week, but I can

manage. In reality, I have to manage, because Ive been waiting my whole life to come to this

university and prove to my parents that all the money they have every spent on me, would be

worth every penny. To end my narrative, I went through the Pegasus program here at UCF,

which means I didnt have high enough test scores to get straight into the university. I had to

take two classes over summer and go to meetings almost every day, and creed seminars every

week. My priorities were to not miss a class, go to every event, and pass both my classes with a

C or above. If I did not reach these requirements, I wouldnt make it to the fall semester at the

University of Central Florida. At the end, I was rewarded with perfect attendance, and an A in

SLS and a B in Philosophy, and a certificate that stated I would be attending UCF in the fall. All

my hard work was paid off, but I can only improve more and more from here on out. Go

Knights!