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I had a very typical early language development. Like most children, my first words were "mama" and "dada." Growing up I loved to talk and be the center of attention! I have five younger sibling and I was always yelling at them and with them. I would find myself in trouble with teacher in my early years of elementary school (kindergarten and 1st grade) for talking too much. However, as I got older I became more shy. I never liked talking on the phone or volunteering answers in class. It wasn't until college that I was able to break out of my shell.

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During my early years of elementary school I struggled a lot with reading. I remember each night in the first grade we would have to take home a book in a bag (very similar to the one pictured above). We would bring this bag home every night and practice our reading at home with our parents. The goal of this activity was to master the book in a few days and then receive a new one. This activity frustrated me because I never got a new book. This book was too difficult for me to read but, I was expected to keep trying. I struggled every day; none of this hard work was paying off. This experience made me dislike reading for the next few years.

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By the time I reached the third grade, I had a wonderful teacher. She helped me improve in ways no teacher had before. She tutored me after school, on the weekends, and during the summers at our town's library. It was very clear she cared for my success. She helped my understand and grow like no other teacher of mine had. She is one of the big reasons I want to become a teacher. I also read us the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. A combination of her effort and this book made me fall in love with reading.

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From third grade on I became an avid reader. Whenever I had free time, I was reading. If we had extra class time or a study hall, I was reading. One of the books that I remember falling in love with was the Hunger Games series. I bought this book in sixth grade and couldn't put it down. After finishing that series, I read so many similar books! Throughout middle and high school I read books like the Divergent series and Maze Runner series.

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A big influence on my literacy journey has been my family. When I was young my mom took us to the library every week! We were able to pick out books we were interested in. She also rented us audio books for us to listen to. However, I am the oldest of five siblings. This allowed me to influence my siblings. I have been able to share my love of reading with them. Now as my sisters are older, we share books and make recommendations to one another. My youngest sister and I are 11 years apart. As she was learning to read, I loved helping her and reading books to and with her.

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To this day, I love to read. This is what I do mostly during my free time. My sisters, my friends, and I love to go to local coffee shops such as The Sip and Steam Whistle to just sit and read. I also love to go to the beach during the summers to read with friends. The picture I have included above is one from this past summer. I mostly enjoy reading historical fiction books, fantasy, and romance. One of my favorite books of all time is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. This is a story of two sisters living in France during World War II. This is a heartbreaking story of how the sisters each made a difference in their own way. If you enjoy historical fiction books, I highly recommend you give this one a try!