https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5 My Journey into Literacy and Language en-us 2020-09-09 17:54:22 UTC 2025-12-03 17:52:32 UTC hello@padlet.com arapz9 https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740236869 My parents always made sure to expose me to new areas of the country and world through travel. Now, as I've gotten older, it's become a passion of mine and inspires a lot of my reading.]]> 2020-09-11 19:43:41 UTC https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740236869 arapz9 https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740259701 My mom baked sourdough bread during my entire childhood (still does), and baking became a large part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are my sister and mom teaching me how to bake pies and measure ingredients. The photo below is a photo I took on Thanksgiving last year (yes, we made all of it from scratch)!]]> 2020-09-11 19:52:46 UTC https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740259701 arapz9 https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740271064 Growing up, I would spend hours outside playing, reading, and swimming. As I've grown up, my love of the outdoors has grown into a love of hiking and exploring state parks.]]> 2020-09-11 19:57:47 UTC https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740271064 arapz9 https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740279006 When I was younger and learning how to talk, my family discovered that I had a fairly chronic issue with speech. From the ages of 3 to 11, I attended speech therapy, and it was the place where I really learned how to talk and read. Although I'm proud of my younger self for overcoming my speech impediment, it still held me back from learning my father's native language, Arabic.]]> 2020-09-11 20:01:16 UTC https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740279006 arapz9 https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740301029 My family is a large part of why I love reading. My older siblings and mom constantly read books to me, and my dad would read the newspaper to me every day until I was old enough to complain. ]]> 2020-09-11 20:10:40 UTC https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740301029 arapz9 https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740324414 This was one of my favorite picture books that my mom read to me before bed. ]]> 2020-09-11 20:21:17 UTC https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740324414 arapz9 https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740334713 This book series was my absolute favorite thing to read when I was in elementary/middle school. Even to this day, I still like to reread some of them. ]]> 2020-09-11 20:26:20 UTC https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740334713 arapz9 https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740355842  Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-American author, has become one of my favorite all-time authors. His works, especially "And the Mountains Echoed", really help me connect to my own Arab-American identity]]> 2020-09-11 20:35:47 UTC https://padlet.com/arapz9/6kue7luxmli5biv5/wish/740355842