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Amanda Cintron
Prof. Wolcott
ENC 1102
26 January 2015
Literacy Narrative
My dad did not know any English as a child. He was forced to learn English when he was
preparing for medical examinations, which made the exams even harder. Not knowing English
growing up, made his journey to become a physician more challenging than it already is. After
overcoming this obstacle and earning his medical doctor title he went on to Emory in Atlanta for
his fellowship. He knew enough English to get by, but did not feel comfortable speaking it. He
told me of how he had patients that did not want to be treated by him and asked for other doctors
because of his thick Hispanic accent. They unfairly judged his ability as a physician because of
this. For this reason, my siblings and I were placed in an English private school and we were
constantly exposed to English from a young age. He told me that he didnt want his children to
face the same hardships he faced because he was not as fluent in English as he wished to be.
Caribbean School was my first institutional sponsor. Since my school was very small,
classes were very personal. My whole grade consisted of 33 students. Since pre-k we were taught
how to write English and Spanish. All of my classes, with exception to Spanish, were taught in
English. Our school was so English focused that there were many American teachers who are
brought in to teach in the school, most did not even know Spanish. Since the best way to learn a
language is to immerse yourself in it completely, there was even one year during middle school
were the principal enforced a no Spanish policy in which students were required to speak in
English amongst ourselves, even outside of class. (However, these efforts were in vain.)
When I was in 4th grade, my parents got separated. In attempt to get some distance from
my dad, my mom moved with my siblings and I to another part of Puerto Rico. We were placed

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in one of the best schools in Puerto Rico, TASIS. Even though I was in this school for only one
semester before I moved back, I believe it had an impact on my literacy. This school had
challenged me in ways that my old school had never challenged me before. We had a journal
where he had to write everyday, first thing in the morning. It didnt matter what we wrote, as
long as we wrote something. I have never felt comfortable writing. I remember that I used to
dread that writing period. However, towards the end of the semester, I became much more
comfortable with writing. Even more important, during this time of my life was when I
discovered how much I loved reading. TASIS emphasized reading and writing a lot. In addition
to the classes we were taking, we were required to read a minimum number of books, of our
choosing, to read each month and provide book reports to prove that we did so. I quickly found
myself exceeding the quota because I loved reading so much. Another factor was since I was a
new student, I did not spend time with my classmates outside of school, and all of my free time
was spent reading.
When I moved back to my old school, I continued reading a lot. I found myself
rereading my favorite books up to three times sometimes. My mother, very happy to see me so
passionate about reading, bought me a lot of books. Unfortunately, this fever of mine came to a
stop when I entered middle school. My social life became my priority and I put my beloved
books aside. However, by this time of my life I was so comfortable reading and writing that
many classes were easier to me than they were to my peers. To this day, I feel more comfortable
speaking in Spanish than English, but ironically, I prefer reading and writing in English rather
than in my native tongue.
Even though, I was no longer was the bookworm that I used to be, I was still given many
opportunities that have shaped my literacy. One of those was when my parents sent me to

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Georgetown for a summer. I took some courses alongside students my age from all over the
world. I met people from Spain, Italy, Morocco, and Turkey, to name a few. I became intimidated
when I saw some students much more academically prepared than me. I realized I could do
whatever I want with my life and become whomever I want to be if I set my mind to it. I came
back home with this newfound motivation to take my classes seriously and prepare myself to get
into a highly respected university. That fall after my summer program at Georgetown, I started
my junior year of high school in a new school.
This school was much more challenging than my first school was. At first, I was not
getting the grades I used to get and felt like I was a bad student compared to other students from
my class. I felt hopeless and frustrated. When I started getting good grades again I gained more
confidence in myself. I realized I did not have good study habits, and this experience instilled
them in me. I eventually achieved my goal of getting into my dream school, University of
Richmond, to pursue a career in global business.
Thanks to my past experiences, after I graduated, I was not afraid to go live in Virginia by
myself to attend college. I have adopted an attitude of the sky is the limit. After a year in
Richmond, I realized that my true passion was Health and that I wanted to go to medical school.
I transferred to UCF for economical reasons since I was just attending Richmond because of the
business school. I feel very blessed to have had all these opportunities, which shaped the person I
am today. Because of my literacy history I feel confident that I can achieve what I set my mind to
and can feel at home wherever I live.