Personal Reading and Writing History

There is not one person who supported me in my development as a reader or a writer, but rather a faculty that showed a passion for them. In my elementary school, we used to have days where my class could spend the remainder of class time in the library. We could check out books or read them, but only if it was close to our reading level. Anyone is welcome to challenge themselves to a higher level of reading if they can explain and describe the book to another student or teacher. My competitive side wanted to get to a 5th-grade level reading although still in a 2rd-grade class. They’ve made me grown to like reading, especially fantasy or horror-related books. Additionally, they gave away free books to take home forever. I took any of The Spiderwick Chronicles because they always had two or three drawings depicting the characters or the interactions between them. Those books weren’t labeled as any reading level, but even still, I liked the story it tells. I don’t think they had the full set for free when I got to the library, it was only unorganized piles of books inboxes.
Another time this happened was in 7th-grade middle school when there were bookstores. They sold books with added merchandise and sometimes they would throw in free scented pencils/stickers. Funnily enough, I bought a book because It had a necklace but I stayed for the mystery/horror plotline.
A barrier I faced as a writer was when English class had begun in my freshman year of high school. My teacher made us do essays upon essays every time we finished reading poems or novels or short stories. The week would go like this: Monday, Draft 1. Tuesday, Peer review + Draft 2. Wednesday, peer review 2 + Final Draft. Thursday, review for an upcoming multiple-choice test. Friday, 50 min Multiple-Choice + Essay Test. This was stressful enough but I still had to do 5 more classes in-between! As someone who didn’t like essays, the time pressure was almost unbearable. What’s worse is the statement he said at the beginning of every test, “Remember, you get an automatic F if you cannot reach 5 paragraphs!” It was barely high school and I was already falling behind classes.
My Freshman year of high school was also the time where I felt like a total “outsider” to writing. It felt so out of my comfort zone that it made me more anxious whenever I had an essay to work on. Peers who judged my work, a teacher who wouldn’t even dare to read my work until it reached 5 paragraphs or more, and me, the student who couldn’t continue moving the pencil just to reach that quota. I felt overworked but I punished myself by saying “This is normal for a high school student, so why can’t I do it!?”. I felt so dumb seeing all the people around me do so well, but I could not. I labeled myself as a student who could not write as flawlessly as others in my class.
In other news, I had a much nicer time with my Junior year English class. This was a time where I felt like an “Insider” to writing and reading. She was a tough grader but a very forgiving person. She gave us formats for all of our essay assignments from day 1, such as Narrative format, Compare/Contrast format, and so on. Students also had study time or homework time in-class. This usually meant we could ask for help in groups of 2 or 3. We had to discuss a packet assignment first and then if we have more time, we can talk about our essays. When she gave back my graded Essay papers, she would say 2 things, “Good job! Thank you for sharing this special moment!” or “Good job! however, I suggest you look over the tips I put on your paper.” She always gave students a chance to rewrite only 1 paper that had a bad grade on it for that semester. She also would read student’s work out loud (only if the student allowed it!!) which gave the class examples of what a 100/100 points essay sounds like. She made me hate writing a little less and love reading a lot more.