Literacy: A Personal Reflection Essay Example

Apparently, watching an adult read and write is the most fascinating thing to a little kid. To the kid, the multiple figures and letters being scribbled on the paper do not make sense at all. I was no exception to such fascination. As a little kid, I found it hard to understand how a person could pick sense form the black and white on paper. As I grew up, I often heard my father, who was a book warm, that for one to succeed, they had to know how to read and write. He further explained to us that the dissimilarity between the well-off and the underprivileged was the fact that the rich had spent their childhood learning how to read and write, while the poor people bothered not. This initiated in me an undying urge to pursue and literacy – a concept my father described as the knowledge on how to read and write.
At the age of five, my father bought me the first book. As anyone would expect, I was more excited about the pictures than the writings. Clearly, I did not seem to understand what the writer of the book, the Three Billy Goats, was trying to say. Under the guidance of my parents, I gradually learnt how to read basic words such as boy, go, ball et cetera. The fact that I could read and relate words to common meanings was a source of excitement to me. When I joined elementary school, I endeavored to understand the function of reading and writing in the social order. As is the norm, we sang and recited the alphabet day in, day out until we all learnt to recite the alphabet on our own. Soon, I was able to read and write intelligible sentences. Everything seemed easy with time.
As I advanced to higher classes, I realized that literacy was an integral part of communication. It became apparent to me that all the professionals had I had known had achieved their professional dreams through being literate and achieving the capacity to pursue their respective professions. The power of literacy was becoming apparent to me. Away from school, I could see people reading such things as news papers and fictional books. This, as well, taught me that literacy could enable individuals communicate their ideas, as well as news. The passage of news from one place and person to another is of central importance, considering that society today is highly dynamic and integrated.
Currently, I am a literate member of society, who champions for literacy. Arguably, illiteracy is the cause of the rift between the developed nations and the developing economies. According to research, one of the most prominent causes of poverty is ignorance and illiteracy. Poverty is both a cause and effect of illiteracy. The two phenomena are highly integrated in an economic concept referred to as the vicious circle of poverty. All through my school life, I have appreciated the fact that I can read and write. Such simple responsibilities as helping my grandparents read their mails make me satisfied. If had the ability to, I would ensure that all people embrace literacy as this is the only way they could help transform the world to be an enhanced place. I have quite a number of reasons as to why literacy is a central part of human relations in the modern world. It is no puzzle, then why I think, literacy is of exceptional importance in as far as communication is concerned.