In my life and experience, a writer is someone who draws from their life experiences and their opinions and creates something new from it. Writing can come in many forms whether it be nonfiction or fiction, poetry or research. Writing allows people to express themselves however they feel that they need to. It is a space where they can be completely honest, both with themselves and others and really put themselves out there. For me, writing gives me an outlet to be able to express whatever I am feeling. Even in an academic environment, it benefits me to express opinions that I have on certain things. One can be a writer even if all they do is write in their diary. Writing also can give people so much power, especially when they put intention behind every word they choose as Donald Murray wrote. He recognized that each word is a choice that can strengthen your writing. One thing I love about writing is being able to read someone’s words and recognize what in their background might have contributed to them saying what they did. Deborah Brandt recognizes that each person has certain things in their life that affect them and their writing choices. She called these sponsors of literacy. Being able to see those in others’ writing is really cool and I like the idea that I am also affected by things in my life and other people can see that as well. Overall, writing is really good to help with an expression of self and anybody can take it up and begin writing.

The Ted Talk video talks about how we can have more meaningful conversations with people. It highlights ten points or strategies that will aid one to have better talks with others. She reveals that the secret is to act like an interviewer. When one interviews someone else, they put most of the focus on the other person. She says that the most important strategy is to listen. She also reveals her own attitude, in that she believes “everyone is an expert in something.” That viewpoint has never failed her and allowed her to gain something meaningful from each person she encounters. Even though one may dislike a person or disagree with them, it is still possible to converse with them and come away from it with something new. Each person has their own perspective, so when talking to them, do not compare your own experience and invalidate theirs in the process. Each person is unique and individual and it is important to remember. One thing that I could implement in my life when speaking to others is to try not to multitask. It is so easy for me to get sidetracked and start working on something else when another person is speaking. It is important to give them my focus to show their importance to me and my willingness to listen. If I am paying attention, I will not have to pretend to.

In What the Eyes Don’t See by Mona Hanna-Attisha, she sets the scene by sharing what her normal routine is. She gives an overview of her place in society and her career as a pediatrician. She is very passionate for her work and cares for the people of her community. At a gathering of old friends, one of them informs her that the government is covering up the amount of lead in the drinking water. She is completely shocked and feels betrayed, wondering where the people who are supposed to be doing their jobs have disappeared to. Being so invested in the well-being of her community, she immediately sets out to educate herself of the subject and looks into it to see what she can do to help the situation.

1. What is literacy to you? Literacy to me is any piece or text that I’ve had my hands on during my lifetime.
2. Who’s one of your Sponsors of Literacy? One of my sponsors of literacy are the short children books I had as a child and my father, who would help me read them.
3. Write a scene with this Sponsor of Literacy like Fishman did in her piece. The dozens of thin books that sat on the shelf in the extra room of the house were a constant reminder of literacy in my childhood. When I was bored, I would go searching for them, knowing that they would satiate my boredom for a little while. Before I knew how to read, I would simply look at the pictures and try to absorb as much as I could that way or ask my father to read one after his long day of work. His soothing voice bringing the words to life is what sparked my love of reading. It took a while for me to get the hang of reading by myself, but once I did, the words flew off the pages faster than I could keep track of. Whenever my aunt came from Colorado to visit, she would recommend books to me and sometimes gift me them. She also influenced my love of reading, supplying me with new content to continue my search for words. We shared many discussions about how simple reading allowed us to travel to a completely different world despite our tethers to real life. They fed the fire within my brain that only wanted words from new books that contained special worlds.