Through adversity, I learned to learn.
If you had asked me when I was in first grade: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I would have answered: “Smart like everyone else.” I have always been a hopeful scholar, despite a language based learning disability that affects both reading and writing. Dyslexia scrambles the channels of learning for me, which makes it difficult to process information properly at first. Through years of intense tutoring sessions and reading workshops, I learned to use technology to improve my reading performance. I eventually mastered the coping techniques which enabled me to become an honor roll student and maintain a decent GPA. I still struggle with the reality of my learning differences and get frustrated
“All of the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me.” Walt Disney. The books A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, a fictional book, and Iqbal a fictional book, share the same theory. A Long Walk to Water is a book about the true story of Salva; a little boy that gets separated from his family because of the war in South Sudan and later becomes the leader of a group called the Lost Boys of South Sudan. This novel also includes a fictional story of Nya, a little girl that can’t go to school, because she has to walk to the water well twice a day, taking up most of the day. Salva helps Nya get a water well in her village years later by using his organization, Water for South Sudan. Iqbal is the true story of Iqbal Masih, a little boy that became a child slave, but was able to set himself and his friends free from slavery. This book is told in the point of view of Fatima a fictional little girl that was one of the children who was enslaved in the same factory as Iqbal. In each book, the characters grow stronger because of a cultural conflict. Cultural conflicts can force people to become stronger.
Our abilities are often what we use to define our worth. Whether we fail or succeed our future lifestyle is open to our discretion; however, we fail to realize outside influences have the ability to cripple us. One way in which this is true is through the education system. If we fail to meet the average or typical standards of others we often mark ourselves as useless. Children, and adults, facing adversity in literacy see this as a daily struggle no matter what their individual disability is. In “Dyslexia” by Eileen Simpson, and “The Library Card”, by Richard Wright, details are what define their disabilities to their audiences. Through the descriptions presented in “Dyslexia”, we have the ability to place ourselves into Simpson’s point of view; meanwhile, in “The Library Card” it is easy to draw a connection between this story and the struggle of those in slave narratives such as the one written by Frederick Douglass.
The idea of taking risks appeal to most people, but what is actually learned from the act of risk taking? In the two readings, “Breaking through Uncertainty –Welcome Adversity,” by Jim McCormick, and “Neighbours,” by Lien Chao, the benefit derived from taking risks is explored. In McCormick’s article, a parachuting jump mishap leads to his revelation that confidence and certainty can be found. Chao’s short story deals with Sally befriending an elderly couple and joining them for Canada Day celebrations, and along the way realizes what’s important to herself. Though “Breaking Through Uncertainty –Welcome Adversity,” deals with a life saving risk, “Neighbours” is more about a personal risk, something that demonstrates much greater benefits as personal satisfaction.
Dyslexia makes it harder for me to read, spell, comprehend, and remember information. Growing up, the public school system marked me as a student who would not succeed in college life and had no reason to be prepared for college. I had an IEP for almost all of my schooling, which meant I was able to get extra help on classes and more time on testing. The school system never really followed through with my IEP and told me that I was just fine without it. Since the school felt I was performing so well on my own in academic classes, they talked my mom and me into doing away with my IEP. Throughout high school, something inside me told me I was better than just an academic student. I wanted to be able to be in honors classes because academic classes were not challenging enough for me. Teachers and other students did not take the academic classes seriously. I asked to be placed in an honors class my junior year; I was told it would be too difficult for me and I would fail. The school also told me that they could not find an open seat in the classrooms for me. This situation is similar to how Douglass felt. As he relates, “It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy” (63). Douglass understands his condition and how he is felt to be inferior and cannot do anything about it, as he is being suppressed. I too felt as though the school was hindering my academic advancement. So
“The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal” by Jonathan Mooney is the story of his journey around the U.S. in short bus nonetheless to meet with different children and their families who have faced challenges in school due to ADD, ADHD, Autism, and other learning disabilities. Jonathan Mooney himself faced the disability of Dyslexia and often had to deal with many challenges in school himself, but he appears to be one of the more fortunate ones, who was able to grow from his disability and ultimately get a degree in English. Needless to say, his book and journey lead the reader to question what really is “normal”, and how the views of this have caused the odds to be stacked against those who don’t fit the mold. Throughout, this story, for me personally however, this story gave several events that I found moving, and had the potential to influence my further work in education.
At the beginning of his book, Looking For Heroes, Aidan Colvin sets out on a mission to write to 100 famous or successful people with dyslexia. Some of the people Colvin ends up getting responses from are Ms. Bancroft, Dr. Delos Cosgrove, Amanda Thirsk, Diane Swank, Ben Foss, Jay Leno and many more successful people who have struggled with dyslexia. After receiving responses from many of the successful people he wrote to, Colvin discovers that the thing that is holding him back is the same thing that can make him successful too! Dyslexia may be a challenge, but it can also be a gift!
William Cullen Bryant is one of the most influential people of his time. He was born on November 3, 1794. He is most well-known for writing his poem “Thanatopsis”, which would roughly translate from Greek to “a meditation upon death” in English. This poem is by far his most popular poem. He spent majority of his life studying law, then died as the editor of the New York Evening Post. He was extremely politically fueled and also did not agree with the commonly accepted view of heaven and religion; this idea is shown in his poem. Overall, William Cullen Bryant is the most important American romantic poet of his time.
When you walk into a room of people look around you at everybody. Can you pick out one or two people who suffer from a learning disability? Simply by looking at me Could you tell I do. Even educators did not realize that I had dyslexia. Unfortunately, they did not see the signs. I would like to share with you, how I have endeavored obstacles throughout life and still do, to this day.
My family and I discovered I had dyslexia when I was in the second grade. Honestly, it was quite a traumatic event. What was an eight year old little girl to think about a doctor telling her “she was retarded” (that she had dyslexia.) I pondered long and hard about the diagnosis, but soon learned to accept it. I made it my goal to overcome my dyslexia. That’s the amazing thing about me and actually one of the few factors that drives me to work harder and not be a dyslexic statistics. I knew was an anomaly. I was called out to be different and took pride in the fact that I blossom with every challenge I encounter. My goal now was to always be different: someone who proved the expected failures of dyslexic wrong. I wasn’t “retarded” and I
“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant- Horace.” After analyzing this quotation about adversity from the Roman Poet Horace, it is evident that his assentation about the role that adversity plays in developing a person’s character is accurate because without some sort of hardships or trial majority of the celebrities and population wouldn’t have been as successful. For example, world renowned soccer players, Walt Disney, Famous authors, and more wouldn’t have been prosperous without their misfortune pushing and inspiring them to want a better life for themselves.
“The Extraordinary Characteristics of Dyslexia” by Jake Horner is a definition essay on what it means to be dyslexic. He incorporates his own life story to support his definition and his ideas in his essay. Dyslexia is looked upon as a disability that should be treated even though dyslexia has to do with the way your brain processes the information given to you. Horner includes two types of thinkers, spatial and linear. Spatial thinkers are the dyslexic people in the world, and linear thinkers are the non-dyslexic people in the world (Horner 493). As I read this essay, it made me reflect.
Alison’s story is the perfect example of what many families must go through when faced with the possibility of having a child diagnosed with a learning disability. Alison was not diagnosed with visual and auditory dyslexia until the summer before entering college. However, while still a toddler, her symptoms had been brought to her mother’s attention by her sister’s teacher. Alison’s mother then noticed her habits in repeating words incorrectly and how Alison would need tactile clues to follow directions. At the recommendation of her kindergarten teacher, Alison was tested for learning disabilities and the results from the school psychologists were that she was acting stubborn or disobedient. Her family did not stop with the school’s diagnosis. They had private testing completed that confirmed Alison did not have a specific learning disability. The final word came from a relative that happened to be a psychologist. He insisted Alison would grow out of her difficulties. So Alison continued on with her entire elementary, middle and high school journey as a student and daughter with an undiagnosed learning disability.
Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor said, “There are uses to adversity, and they don’t reveal themselves until tested.” In my life I have witnessed both my parents go through adversities just to make sure I lived a good life. My parents were courageous enough to chase the American Dream, since they knew their children would have greater opportunities in this country. This choice did not come easy, my mom had to sacrifice her career to come here, something she worked hard to achieve. Both my parents gave up the comfort of their home and their family to come to a strange land. When they arrived they began looking for work, my mom exchanged a desk job for a cleaning job. My dad took construction,landscaping jobs to bring food to our table.
In middle school I was diagnosed with a disability with the way I expressed myself through writing. Ever since, I have gained multiple values and learned several lessons about self confidence. I was taught to push past my limits, in order to be successful in reaching my goals along with my dreams. Today I am a senior in high school who was once thought to struggle, but was able to succeed beyond expectations. To some, a disability may seem like a setback from achieving goals, but to me I used it as a challenge for myself. I accepted myself for who I was and looked at my disability as a unique trait of mine. I was able to provide a message to others that anything you set your mind to is possible with dedication and hard work. It might take
During my life as a student of the University Of Arkansas, I have confronted an adversity which have become in an important part at the same time. I can say that this adversity have been the adaptation to the educative system of the University Of Arkansas. A new language, and a math level have been the different obstacles that I have to deal each day to achieve a better adaptation to this system. First of all, as a Spanish speaker have been difficult challenge to understand academic subjects in a different language. Distinct accents and different ways of expression showed me in my first semester that in some occasions was difficult to understand my teachers; however, trough the time, I noticed that I started getting listening skills that helped to have a better understating in my classes.