I was seven-years old, living the happiest and most content life that god could ever give me. Sitting in my room on my bed, and smelling the sweet smell of dinner cooking downstairs is something that I will allways remember; a feeling of complete comfort and pure bliss. My parents are my rocks, and I truly do not know where I would be in life without them. Even at an early age, I was always provided for. I was provided with a comfortable home, food on the table every night, and most importantly love all around. My parents always wanted the best for me. I could tell, even at such a young age, that they wanted me to succeed in life. They sent me to the best school they could find, five minutes away from our beloved home. Education was something that my parents spoke very highly of.
I can clearly remember my struggles with reading even before I started school. My mom would flash letters in front of my face and I would have no idea what any of them meant. Even when she tried sounding out the letters, I could not understand the sounds that she was making. I remember watching her lips, trying to copy the way she pursed and relaxed them during each letter-sound. She even began reading to me instead. She would read aloud, and I would understand the material well, but not perfectly. Distraction was always my worst enemy, which occured most of the time when my mom or my teacher would read aloud to me.
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I clearly remember having dreams about my elementary school burning to a crisp in the middle of the night, not hurting a soul..
That was just how bad I absolutely hated school. I was bullied, made fun of, and called nasty names every single day of my life.
That was just how bad I absolutely hated school. I was bullied, made fun of, and called nasty names every single day of my life.
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I was bullied every single day of my life in elementary school. I was so far behind in reading that my classmates thought I was stupid. I was embarrassed, and felt like a complete and utter outcast at all times. This was not the life that I wanted to be living....
It was 2003, I was in first grade. Technologies across the world were globalizing and spreading all over the place, especially throughout my school. I was absolutely shocked. I never understood technology well, but I was starting to get the hang of it at home at least. My mom had a cell phone, which I thought was pretty cool! Maybe technology would be a good thing for myself...
I remember coming into class one day and seeing something that appeared to look like a tape recorder sitting on the windowsill. My teacher exclaimed in a loud voice right as we were seated, “Hello boys and girls, what you see on the windowsill are audio books! They are brand new to our school, and they are there for you to help you read. Please take advantage of them. Each book I have in class for you is also linked to an audio book. During your independent reading time, you may listen to the audio book version while reading along from the actual book. Let me know if you have any questions!”
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Audio books were just like regular books, however audiobooks read the story to you. I was able to pick up a hard copy of a book, put in some headphones that had a tape recording of a voice reading the book, and follow along with the sounds of the words versus the actual words on the pages in front of me. Immediately, I was hooked. Finally, I was reading the words on the page! Now, you might be thinking, what about my mom or my teachers? They would obviously read aloud to me and my classmates. This is very true. My mom would read aloud to me as well as my teacher, but this was not the same experience as the audio book. When my teacher read aloud, I was easily distracted by the rest of the students listening to the story. When my mom would read, I was so nervous that she was judging me that I could not physically make out the correct words to read to myself. With the audiobook, I was able to read and live in my own little bubble, almost like I was in my own world. I was able to focus on nothing but the book itself. Nobody was loud or noisy, I couldn’t hear anything but the book reading through the headphones. Nobody was judging me, I was able to curl up and listen to a good book without being judged in any way. Audio books were my true savior. I would read them at any time I could throughout the school day, and my mom even bought one for me at home!