autobiography

Hi, my name is Kaitlyn Rowell, I'm 20 years old and I am a junior at the Joffrey Ballet school in Manhattan. I am a dance major in the Jazz and Contemporary program. Joffrey has a collaboration with NJCU that allows me to graduate with a BFA degree in dance. I have been dancing all my life and being creative and innovative with my body really inspires me. When I read the course description for this class I thought it looked interesting and like a different approach to literacy. 

From as young as I can remember, my mother and family have always read to me. Before bed, I heard books about fairies, dragons and mermaids. As a child, I was always exposed to reading and knowing that my bedtime story was coming would consistently excite me. I liked picturing the characters and writing the story in my mind. However, when it became my time to start reading I realized it wasn't so easy. I really struggled connecting the letters to the sounds they make and it was very hard for me to formulate sentences. I felt very confused and embarrassed when I learned I was two reading levels behind the other students. Despite being very exposed to words, books and reading, I wasn't able to pick it up. As I got older my discouragement grew. I was terrified to be called on to read in class and I was so worried about spelling things incorrectly on tests. My mother saw my frustrations so she got me special testing to see what was going on. I later found out that I have Dyslexia. My mother sprung right into action and fought for me to get extra support in class. I was pulled out of class to do something called the Wilson Reading Program. The teacher and I went over spelling, reading, making sentences and reading comprehension. This was the best thing that has happened to me because I started to gain confidence back and the idea of reading wasn't so daunting to me anymore. I was able to practice what I learned with my teacher at home and eventually caught up with the other students in my grade. This is when I truly started to appreciate the value of books and what can be gained from them. I started too see why it's so necessary to include books in schools and in children's education. When it comes to reading today, I've noticed that I am a very audio/visual learner. I discovered things like audio books to help me with the reading portion so I still get to indulge and experience stories and learning. I realize now how important literacy is in daily life and how not having it can hinder personal growth and experiences. Literacy keeps people open minded and exposes them to different cultures, beliefs and locations that maybe you didn't know about before. I want to continue to push myself outside my comfort zone and keep literacy in my life despite my struggles.