Lucas Hutchins
Prof. McCalla
ENC 1101 71B
11 September 2016
Literacy Revalued
I am currently in the midst of my defining moments from a literary standpoint. Never before have I felt a drive or need to improve myself in this regard more than I have over the past year. I can attribute this hunger to improve myself to one particular moment with a singular individual. My son, Evan, came to me and asked me, “Do I have to go to college? You didn’t and you have a good job.” Perhaps a bit of context would help explain why this shocked me as much as it did. My son is only seven years old and, while exceedingly bright for his age, his curiosity towards his future threatened to question my core values. How could I tell him that he doesn’t need to pursue academic excellence when he is so clearly gifted? I could not possibly cling to my own hypocritical values against education and persuade him towards …show more content…
I routinely skipped school and failed every English class that I took thinking at the time that they were pointless, why should I be graded on my opinions and how well I can write them? I would often ask myself these types of questions, and finding no response within my own ignorance, I would let those thoughts stand unanswered as my justification. I barely managed to graduate high school after taking the required courses at night. Having no prospects nor desire for college I joined the Army and served for four years. During which time I made no use of the vast amount of educational resources offered to service members. Upon exiting the Army, I continued to create excuses to not further my education citing societal issues or animosity towards those that made better choices than I. I hated all things education and those that had it based solely on skewed worldviews I had brought upon myself. This of course included reading or writing for any reason. It would seem that in all of life’s lessons I continued to be a poor
Prof. McCalla
ENC 1101 71B
11 September 2016
Literacy Revalued
I am currently in the midst of my defining moments from a literary standpoint. Never before have I felt a drive or need to improve myself in this regard more than I have over the past year. I can attribute this hunger to improve myself to one particular moment with a singular individual. My son, Evan, came to me and asked me, “Do I have to go to college? You didn’t and you have a good job.” Perhaps a bit of context would help explain why this shocked me as much as it did. My son is only seven years old and, while exceedingly bright for his age, his curiosity towards his future threatened to question my core values. How could I tell him that he doesn’t need to pursue academic excellence when he is so clearly gifted? I could not possibly cling to my own hypocritical values against education and persuade him towards …show more content…
I routinely skipped school and failed every English class that I took thinking at the time that they were pointless, why should I be graded on my opinions and how well I can write them? I would often ask myself these types of questions, and finding no response within my own ignorance, I would let those thoughts stand unanswered as my justification. I barely managed to graduate high school after taking the required courses at night. Having no prospects nor desire for college I joined the Army and served for four years. During which time I made no use of the vast amount of educational resources offered to service members. Upon exiting the Army, I continued to create excuses to not further my education citing societal issues or animosity towards those that made better choices than I. I hated all things education and those that had it based solely on skewed worldviews I had brought upon myself. This of course included reading or writing for any reason. It would seem that in all of life’s lessons I continued to be a poor