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Even though I cannot remember all of the books I read from elementary school to middle school, I can surely remember my mom teaching me the alphabets and the number systems using books like the one shown above.

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On summer break and vacations, my dad would force me to read the newspaper from the country that we were visiting so I could work on my literacy skills and keep up with summer reading lists. As much as I'd rather play my 3DS and mind my business back then, it was interesting to read about news reports instead of watching them on the tv like I would do usually in the United States.

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When my parents would take me to church, they would often times put me in Bible school so I wouldn't be bored during the service. I would have books read to me and be given the chance to read the book myself which helped me learn how to read even more and derive themes from books.

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Books written by Dr. Seuss were very popular in my younger years, especially this book, Green Eggs and Ham, that my mom had bought for me to read at home. Dr. Seuss' books were most likely the first books I remember reading that had a lot of rhyming, which is apart of phonological awareness. I think this book also enacted my dislike for eggs in my younger years.

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Music became a big thing for me to the point where I would constantly stream music on YouTube and tune in to the radio stations in the car, nearly all day every day. I would play songs from different artists ranging from Nicki Minaj, Drake, Rihanna, Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, etc. I got so obsessed with music that I started to look up the lyrics to the songs and realize that there are stories embedded in the melodies, and not just words being bunched together in a sentence.

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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During my elementary school years, New York City Public Schools were implementing Smart Boards, iPads, and laptops for students to use and interact with. Many learning platforms such as I-Ready were given to us as a form of instruction and tested us on where we were using diagnostic tests. We were able to read, write, and solve math problems through these websites that overall increased our skills.

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My mom would buy dictionaries for me to read from everyday while growing up; and she also bought me a Spanish to English version so I could learn Spanish on my own since she wasn't fluent in Spanish either. I still read from it time to time and look up certain words that I forgot the meaning of.

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I entered the social media realm at too young of an age, I will admit that. But reflecting back on how social media was back in the 2010's to now has allowed me to see that there is a drastic change in how I interact with it. In middle school, I used social media to connect with friends and foes who I was seeing nearly everyday; and to post daily status updates about my life. Now, I simply use social media to voice my opinions about various things happening in the world; and to seek creativity for things that I'm interested in.

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I started reading stories on an app called Wattpad and I would stay up until 3 A.M. trying to get all the juicy drama from the books. Although some of the books that I read were not for pre-teens at all, I developed a deep interest for books that are classified as drama, realistic fiction, and fantasy.

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Once I started middle school and made friends, I started to watch different animes because that's what they were interested in, so I became a follower and did it too.

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I started to read mangas (graphic novels made by Japanese creators) because watching the shows was not satisfying anymore. These types of books share similarities with cartoons.

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I read this book in my 10th grade class when the COVID-19 pandemic came into effect. This is the first book that I have enjoyed reading since high school started, and I also got the chance to read the book and watch the movie at the same time so I could follow along.

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I didn't like listening to podcasts at first because I'm a kinesthethic and visual learner, so I usually would need a book or text in front of me in order to actually comprehend what I'm reading. However, podcasts began to grow on me in late high school and I started to listen to them on Spotify, such as the one pictured above. I sort of forced myself to become an auditory learner/listener by doing this.

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I was very much late to the party when it came to watching movies on streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. But when I started to use these services, they allowed me to see various movies/shows from all over the world: Nollywood, K-Dramas, anime, etc. This was another form of literacy to me visually.

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My grandmother traveled from Belize to New York right after the COVID-19 pandemic to stay with us; and she's been telling me stories about our family and where we originated; which I love because I can tap more into my heritage more than ever and embrace who I am and where I come from.

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This book is a must read in my opinion. It is so refreshing to read books about a Black woman's experience dealing with issues that so many women deal with constantly, at any stage in life. The book was so good that I went and found the second book to this series, Black Girls Must Be Magic, for free!

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Over the past few years, I have found myself being interested in spirituality more than ever and I bought this book from Five Below to use whenever I see angel numbers anywhere. This book has seriously come in handy when I see an angel number and can connect it to my current life situation.

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While being interested in spirituality, I have also taken an interest in strengthening my connection with God as a Christian! The Bible is a book that I'm currently reading and learning from. The Bible is full of allegories, symbolism, and prophecies that are yet to come; and reading this book has opened my eyes to new perspectives on the world and given me new ways to live my life as I grow into an adult who is trying to be closer to God.

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Once I started to get into spirituality and religion more, I found myself writing down all my manifestations and prayers. In a way, this is similar to free writing - which was introduced to me in elementary school - where I could write whatever I wanted without a specific reason or topic. I either use a notebook for this, or the Notes app in my phone.

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I have recently fell in love with concerts because it's amazing to hear the lyrics of a song, feel the vibes, and also see the artist portray how they feel while singing certain songs. I feel as it is storytelling in a way but with movement, or similar to a play.