Lit/Comp 9

I am a the youngest of two Nigerian children. Growing up in Nigeria, the Nigerian education system placed more emphasis on Math and Science courses while placing less on English/Language Arts courses. Although this system may have been flawed, it suited people like myself who the mere thought of having to write an essay or read a book sent shivers down my spine. I believe there are two types of people in the world: those who have a passion for reading and writing, and those who try as much as possible to avoid it. I unfortunately fall into the latter category. I was the kid who had never read any of the Harry Potter books, but had seen all the movies; the kid who was never interested in comic books and stayed in all day playing video games.

I had never taken a literature class because it was considered an elective at my Middle School. Although I had taken some composition classes, I still felt a little anxious going into the class. I had somehow navigated my way through the entirety of middle school with having to do very minimal reading and writing but I knew that would soon change. I resented having to go to my first period, but little did I know that first period Ms Shakir’s Lit/Comp 9 would have such a lasting effect on me. Eventually, the 1st day of class came along, the teacher talked about the assessment that was going to be done on the summer reading in 2 weeks; this allowed for the people, like me, who didn’t go to a Middle School in the City of Decatur, or just forgot to check our emails to have some time to read the book. I had only ever had to read a few short stories that usually ranged from ten to twenty pages, but, now, I had a novel that would be at least 200 pages. I ended up reading Acceleration by Graham McNamee. Acceleration was about a seventeen year old boy named Duncan, who stumbled upon a murder’s journal. He then decides to go out of his way to attempt to save the murderer’s next

I eventually started reading and the hardest part of the first few pages was trying to stay awake, but that soon changed. The further I got into the book and the more engrossed I got in it. Acceleration was what I would call a “read in one gulp” book that reminded me a lot of Criminal Minds. Criminal minds is a tv show in which a group of FBI profilers analyze criminals to anticipate their next moves. It was sort of a pleasant surprise for me, and a new experience. This is because I found out I enjoyed reading the book. This was characterized by my frequent smiling on several