I am currently pursuing a Master's degree in reading and literacy instruction because I believe that the current literacy crisis in America is not only unacceptable, it is an incredible injustice that cannot continue. Education in this country is under intense fire, as anyone working in a public school right now can attest. Every day there is a barrage of opinions about what teachers should and should not be doing, and it is affecting the students greatly. Nearly half of the adults in this country are reading below a sixth grade level. This cannot continue. The numbers are even worse for students of color, immigrants and children of immigrants, students with disabilities, and students experiencing poverty. I am currently working as a reading interventionist at a low-income, city based high school. The students in my classroom are bright. They are motivated. They want to know how to read and write because they have something worth saying. Yet they have reached the ages of 15, 16, even 19 years old without being able to properly communicate their brilliance with the world. This leaves them at a disadvantage. Students who cannot read properly are easily taken advantage of in this day and age. They are offered worse jobs, worse salaries, worse housing, sometimes without even realizing that they are missing out. They are also more easily subjected to systemic and judicial inequality. Adults with poor literacy skills are more often incarcerated; not because they are more dangerous or more prone to crime, but because they are more easily manipulated by the court system. Every day, I hear stories of students who received harsh penalties for minor crimes. Often, the students do not even realize they were mistreated until they are able to read stories like theres. If they can recognize the injustices apparent in the texts they read, they are better able to communicate the injustices they face, and hopefully they can feel motivated to do something about it. I want to remain in my school setting. I want to continue my education so I can be a better teacher for the students who need it most. It is unfair and unreasonable that they have been without a reading interventionist as long as they have, and intend to stick around. To do this, I need to earn my degree in reading and literacy instruction. Working as a teacher at a low-income school does not offer a lot by way of income, so a scholarship is needed in order for this dream to become a reality. My plan is to work full time while working towards my degree and license so that at the end of three years, I am more knowledgable in reading instruction and I can help them to reach their own dreams as well.

When I began my journey toward becoming a teacher, I did not know just where I would end up. I have always been very comfortable in a school setting. I love to learn. It was never a challenge for me. I knew I wanted to teach English. I couldn't imagine anything better than reading books all day every day. Due to a series of unexpected events, I found myself not in an English classroom, but in a reading classroom. I didn't think it could be all that different. English is basically just reading anyway, right? I could not have been more wrong. What I learned was that a large number of high school students do not have any ability to read at all. It became clear that this is what I was meant to be doing. I needed to teach teenagers how to read. Currently, nearly half of American adults are reading at or below a sixth grade level. To me, this is not only a literacy crisis, it is a social justice issue. It is wrong that our school system is failing students at such a high level. Students of color, immigrant students and children of immigrants, students with disabilities, and students experiencing poverty feel these effects at an even higher rate. If students graduate high school unable to read, they are being set up for failure for the rest of their lives. They are being left vulnerable to those who would like to take advantage of them. Breaking the cycle of illiteracy frees students from poor employment, poor housing, and from systemic and legal injustices they may face. They become equipped to face the challenges that much of the world seeks to exploit in them. It breaks the cycle of generational poverty that influences the very foundations of this country. The students are smart. They know what they are doing. Sitting down with these students, having real in depth conversations, reveals that in them. They want to change the world. They recognize the injustices that surround them, they just don't have access to the language required to fix it. Teaching students with reading disabilities how to read and write means they can finally connect fully with the world around them. They can see their struggles depicted in literature. They can read news stories and articles about the injustices they are facing on a daily basis. They can understand that they deserve better than what they are seeing. They can communicate this understanding to others. They can tell the world that they are not going to stand for it anymore. This is only achievable if they can achieve literacy. I am pursuing a master's degree in special education, specifically in reading and literacy instruction, because I want to help students achieve this. I want to help them realize that the thoughts in their heads are valuable, that they are an asset to this world. I want to learn as much as I can about teaching students with reading disabilities because I want them to know who they are and how to share that with the people around them. My Fairytale Once upon a time, there was a small fairy. The fairy was smart, smarter than anyone else around her. Somewhere deep down, she knew this. The fairy had a problem, however. Despite knowing as much as she did, every time she opened her mouth, the only sound that came out was the sound a dainty wind chime, and the only sound she heard from others was the sound. For a long time, the fairy did not know this was unusual. She knew that the words in her head were different than the sounds of the windchimes, but she could not quite piece together how. As she got older, however, she began to notice that she was missing out on things. When other fairies made noise, it seemed to mean something; something beyond just a pleasant or unpleasant reaction. The other fairies were communicating in some way, and she never even knew! She also began to notice that others were growing frustrated with her. When she was young, people responded positively to her music, responding with dainty tunes themselves. Now, as a teenager, the music was met with angry, deep, harsh bells rather than the pleasant music. Other fairies didn't want to bother trying to interpret her chiming. One day, the fairy met a witch. This witch had a special talent. He had spent many years training to learn how to communicate with wind chime fairies. He knew how to communicate with all kinds of fairies. Our main fairy, she knocked on that witches door. Fearing another angry creature, she jingled very softly, hoping for help. To her surprise, the witch was kind! He jingled right back with a cheerful response. Every day for the next year, the fairy would visit the witch. The would sit by the edge of the river and practice making words. Slowly, the chimes began to sound like sentences. The fairy noticed that she could understand the others around her more and more each day. Finally, at the end of the year, the fairy attended a party for all the fairies in the land. At the end of the party, the fairy got brave. She flew up high above the crowd, and in the loudest voice she could find, she yelled. "HELLO!" she bellowed. The entire room fell silent, staring at the fairy, who's voice had previously been unheard. "I have something to say!" she continued. The fairy told her story. She explained how she learned what she learned. She thanked the kind witch for his help. Most importantly, she described how the other fairies made her feel. She described how lonely she was. How the other fairies would really quite like her if they knew her, but no one ever tried. From then on, the other fairies listened to her. She finally could tell her own story. She didn't need to rely on the kindness of others, she could do it on her own finally.

When I was in kindergarten, my older sister was in the fourth grade. She was always a stressed-out person, but this year something changed in her. She went from being a little on-edge to being incapable of attending school. Every night was a battle getting her to bed. I would sit in my room with the door locked while she yelled at my parents and my parents yelled at her. Every morning was a battle getting her out the door. Embarrassed and barely conscious of what was even happening, I would hold her feet while my mom dragged her into the school. She was diagnosed with anxiety and spent years in therapy. I recall sitting in the waiting room doing my homework while she learned how to manage her mental health. By the time she was in high school, she was in a much better place. The reprieve in house was sadly quite brief, however. Soon after my older sister's great progress, we saw a decline in my younger sister's mental health. She began to experience a great depression that triggered intense hallucinations. My house became a scary place. Each night I would lock my doors out of fear that she would, in her confused state, come in to harm me in my sleep. Each morning, I would wake up early to pull her out from under her bed so she would get to school on time. I was constantly enduring physical and verbal attacks, and I found myself often crying at school without understanding why. She also spent many years in therapy working towards better mental health, and I am happy to report she is also thriving today. It wasn't until I went away for my undergraduate studies that I was able to fully process the toll my childhood had on me. I had seen intense mental health issues. Every morning, I would find myself crying in the communal bathroom until I threw up; too afraid to talk to anyone at school. I wanted to disappear. I didn't want anyone to notice me. I was plagued by self doubt, anxiety, and fatigue. Even still, it never occurred to me that I was experiencing trouble with my mental health. I thought that if I was able to suck it up and go to class, I couldn't really be having a problem. To me, mental illness looked like screaming and violence. Even when I was at a point of committing violence against myself, I could not admit that there was a problem. I was the one who was meant to solve the problems. It wasn't until my high school girlfriend made me go see a counselor at college that I realized I needed help. At the time, I did not know she was intending to break things off with me. She wanted to make sure I was safe and stable before doing so, and thank goodness she did. I began going to therapy. My therapists diagnosed me with anxiety and depression. I began taking medication and doing work books and talking through my feelings. My struggles were validated, my pain finally understood. Years of holding it together for others impacted me in ways I never knew, but now I do. These experiences have shaped the person I am now. I continue to take my medications and go to therapy because I have felt how it works. I am focused and driven to maintain my mental health because I can acknowledge that where I am now is better than where I was before. I no longer think about my suffering as poetic or beautiful. I am strong, but not because of my struggles. I am strong despite them. These experiences have also inspired me to help the next generation of students. I am a public school teacher now. I have made it my mission to watch out for teenagers who are struggling. When I was in school, I was overlooked, and my struggles were never addressed. I cannot and will not let that happen to any student in my classroom. I even spent time teaching in a therapeutic school setting in order to reach the students who need it most. My goal in getting my Master's degree is to become a reading interventionist. I believe that students with learning disabilities are often the same students who are struggling with their mental health. If I can teach them to better read and write, then they will have better access to stories that inspire them to seek help. They will also have a better ability to communicate exactly how they are feeling. It is important to me that I am able to reach them where they are and to help them find space to discuss their emotions.