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Growing up I liked reading. I seemed to be good at it because I continued to receive awards.

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I was fortunate enough to have access to multiple libraries. My parents would take my sisters and I to the library every week or so to pick out books to read.

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I grew up in a military family. My dad was in the Navy.

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When I got to 5th grade my view of reading changed. I became more self conscious about my reading, writing, and spelling abilities. I lost interest in anything English related. I still did my work, I just felt like I was doing a bad job at it. I think it had to do with my principal and how she was running reading test on my classmates and I, and she told me that I did better the previous year, which made me feel dumb.

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I was born in Oceanside California and was raised, for the most part, in Southern California.

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My parents would let my sisters and I play educational computer games in our free time. Reader Rabbit was my favorite.

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I also enjoyed the Cam Jansen series. Mysteries is one of my favorite genres.

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One of my favorite book series growing up was Junie B. Jones. I'm pretty sure I've read them all.

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I was born into a Christian household. The first book I can remember seeing around my house constantly was a Bible.

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In 9th grade English class, we had a creative writing assignment. This was the most fun that I've had in English class in a long time and it made me change my views about reading and writing.

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On the right of me is my best friend Noor and to the left of us is one of our favorite high school English teachers Mr. Irwin. Noor loves to read and write and she help and encouraged me to study with her for the reading portion of the ACT, because she knew reading was not my strongest area. Mr. Irwin always encouraged us to do our best and we succeeded in his class.

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I'm the middle child of my family. I have an older sister Jasmine, who I'm sitting on in this picture, and a younger sister Tyra, who is the baby in this picture.

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Despite how hard it was for me to live with my insecurities with reading, writing, and spelling, I made it and I'm still going! Many people have poured positivity into my life and they have helped me succeed!

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In 4th grade I began to learn how to play the violin and I learned how to read music. I played the violin until 6th grade then I moved on to guitar and piano.

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My name is Jacqueline Byas but I usually go by Jackie. Here's a baby picture of me soaking up the world around me.

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My mom would sing this song to my sisters and I at bedtime.

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My mom is from the Philippines and her first language is not English. Growing up I was exposed to her native language verbally and written down.

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As far back as I can remember, this Hooked on Phonics set is FOREVER etched in my memory. My parents would make my older sister and I work on different reading tasks over the summer.

“Your mom and I had you girls work on that Hooked on Phonics when you were babies. You may have not liked it, but you learned how to read didn’t you!” - My Dad