Canale 1!

Danny Canale
Professor Raymond
UWRT 1103 - E02
23 September 2015
My Journey of Literacy
Writing has never really been a strong suit of mine. I was always a math and science
geared person. It has only been the last few years that I have learned to embrace writing. My
literary narrative starts when I was just three years old. As far back as I can remember, my
mother was the one that had always been there to teaching me how to read and write. My father
helped when he wasn't traveling for work, but my mother had the biggest impact. It started with
simple things like, how to write the alphabet and how to write my numbers. My mom was left
handed, and told me that it was difficult for me to learn how to preform these task especially
because I was right hand dominate, and after a while, I showed some progression in these areas,
and moved in to more complicated things such as writing sentences, adding punctuation and so
forth. I was taught in the traditional way, unlike some well known people.
Unlike Malcolm X who had to teach himself how to read in a jail cell during his bed
time, I always remember my mother reading me a story before bed. My favorite book was The
Giving Tree. It always stood out from the others for some reason, and I can't quite explain why. It
had a special meaning that I could sort of connect with and I believe that is why I am the person I
am today. As far as impact on my literary side I feel it gave me the ability to write descriptively
and with reason. Though the book itself has simple sentences, as a child who used his
imagination quite often, it felt like a critically acclaimed novel.

Canale 2!
Reading and writing were a skills that I fell behind in from an early age, like Malcolm X
did, however math and science were two of my stronger subjects. This was a result of a problem
that I had carried with me since birth. Up until the 5th grade when I visited the doctor, I was a
very slow reader and my writing and handwriting was atrocious. This was all due to an eye issue
I had. I was born with a condition called Strabismus, which is defined as "a disorder in which
both eyes do not line up in the same direction, so they do not look at the same object at the same
time." It is commonly referred to as "crossed eyes" (Strabismus).
This played a huge factor in my study habits and ability to read and write from an
extremely young age. Not only did I read multiple grade levels behind my current grade, I also
could not finish work on time.
I remember my trip to the doctors office clear as day. I sat there, listening to every word
that rolled out of the doctor's mouth. "This right here," pointing to a sheet of paper with two
different colored slopping lines down it "is your eye teaming. These lines should be exact copies
of each other, but notice how the left is almost completely opposite of the right?" I shook my
head, "This shows me that your left eye is not doing what the right eye is doing. Your right eye is
doing what it is supposed to do."
I sat there, half way understanding what was being said. "It's going to take you about two
years to be completely fix the issues you are having," she said, referring to the condition I had,
strabismus. "As of right now you are behind multiple grade levels compared to your actual grade
level in comprehension."All I knew was that there was going to be a lot of work, so I began.

Canale 3!
After soaking up what the doctor had to say, I prepared myself to start taking the steps to
help me correct my problem. This included going to vision therapy once a week, completing
daily exercises to strengthen my eyes, and wearing glasses that had corrective lenses.
I started out slow, but I kept working at completing my daily exercises, trying to push
myself to new personal bests. I started to notice my grades rapidly improving, my studies
becoming easier, and most importantly my reading became faster. With my reading speed came
my ability to write at a higher level than I had ever done so before. Before long, I was above my
grade level for reading speed and I had corrected all of my condition quicker than what was
predicted. School had become easier and I was able to keep up in the classroom. This was a
miracle and a blessing in disguise. The timing of these events could not have been more perfect,
especially since I was about to enter middle school.
Middle school was a weird time for me for multiple reasons. The biggest however was
change, not only of myself physically, but also my thought process, amount and difficulty of
school work and, not to mention, more responsibilities. Of course with more responsibilities
meant more privileges like getting a cellphone. I'll never forget it, my first phone, the Samsung
Glide. It was a blue touch screen phone with a slide out keyboard. This was the first time I
started texting, and I really enjoyed it. It was short, simple, and to the point. The problem,
however, was that it was too simple. It quickly started to show that it had an impact on my
writing, and for quite some time during my middle school years. I started to get comments on
my papers such as, "You are missing proper punctuation" or "This is not the correct spelling of
the word." I was struggling really bad. According to the Huff Post, Kids between the ages of 12
and 17 text a median of 60 times a day (Samakow). This just proves how much our generation

Canale 4!
has embraced this technology, and with its simplicity, we fall short of our full potential, like
myself.
As time pushed on, my "love" for texting faded. I still use it today, however, I try to be as
proper as possible, in the hopes of reforming my formal writing. I still slip up on somethings, for
example, I will use "your" instead of "you're" when I text. This mostly happens because when I
send a text message, I usually do it in a quick manner, and since the keyboards on today's mobile
devices are not full keyboards, it takes longer to add the proper punctuation. This had a minimal
effect on my high school writing.
The beginning of high school was a little strange for me. It like middle school was filled
with a lot of change, however, it was more of a mental/environmental change than a physical
one. For instance I dove into country music, becoming a huge fan. Before hand I didn't really
prefer it, mainly because my parents were not from the south like I was. They were true
northerners, growing up on the outskirts of Philadelphia. "We never really were exposed to
country music, we were more of the classic 80's hits you hear when we turn on the '80's hits'
station[,]" my mom had told me when I was inquiring about our music tastes. The only real
connection I had made with Sue Monk Kidds book was the location where it was set.
Like Lily from Sue Monk Kidd's The Secrete Life of Bees, I was born and raised in the
south, more specifically, just south of Charlotte, North Carolina. By the time I was in high
school, I started to form who I was, thus embracing country music and having an idea of what I
wanted to pursue in life. My writing, however, didn't prove to hold any significance.
Towards the end of my high school career was when I really started to embrace my
writing. It was when I started to apply for colleges, but not just any college. Unlike most people

Canale 5!
who choose to attend a well known civilian college, I wanted to do something out of the
ordinary, something that very few people have the opportunity to do. I wanted to apply to the
military academies, more specifically the United States Air Force Academy and the United States
Coast Guard Academy. According to U.S. News, Education section, both of these schools have
less than a 20% acceptance rate. (Top 100 - Lowest) In order to apply, I had to write multiple
essays. "Great. Tons of writing. Just what I need." I thought to my self when I first looked at the
application.
Shortly after taking a step back and reevaluating why I was doing this detailed
application in the first place, I got to work. I noticed something, about my writing that I never
had before. I was writing with a passion, a purpose, and overall attention to detail. It was like a
lightbulb had gone off.
My new found passion paid off. I received two nominations, one senatorial nomination
and one congressional nomination, both to the US Air Force Academy. Though I did not end up
with an appointment to either academy, I received an Air Force ROTC scholarship, and a whole
slew of skills for writing essays.
Over all, my writing journey has been no easy feat. I have had many ups and downs form
my start to where I am now, but I continue to grow everyday, not only by my actions, but also by
my surroundings. I have learned how to over come problems I had, like my eyes and my love
for texting, and have learned to write in certain ways to accomplish different goals. I hope to
continue to embrace literacy like I have learned to over the years, and pass on my story.

Canale 6!
Works Cited
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Viking, 2002. Print.
Malcolm X Learning to Read. smccd.net. Web. 7 Aug. 2014.
Samakow, Jessica. "Teen Texting: New Report Shows They Send 60 Texts A Day." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
Strabismus" MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine.
U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. MedlinePlus.com Web. 01 Sept. 2015.
"Top 100 Lowest Acceptance Rates." Top 100 Lowest Acceptance Rates. N.p., n.d.
usnews.com Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
Canale, Kym. "My Literacy Narrative." Interview by Danny Canale. n.d.: n. pag. Print.