To Achieve A Dream - Literacy Narrative RD 1

This is my Literacy Narrative rough draft for school. Tell me what you think!

To Achieve A Dream

It happened when I was four. My six-year old brother struggled through “How to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” but I flew through it in a month.

At four.

Tell me how that works? Like the paths taken by the many of the intellectually gifted, I skated through elementary and middle school. It was nothing, really; just school. I never had to work a day in my life at school. Then, the path I followed tread by other brilliant minds met a fork in the road. Algebra cocked its ugly head, and I was expected to conquer it. Well, every rose has its thorn… Or should it be, “every intellectual loses their touch”? I sure did, because no matter how many times Mom explained to me that f(x)=y, no matter how many times she recited the quadratic formula to me, I just couldn’t get it. As I would stare at the formulas, the theorems, the countless X’s and Y’s that covered my paper, my mind would go blank. The kind of blank you hit when you’re writing a poem and you can’t think of a word that rhymes well enough to go with the flow. Yes, that kind of blank. The worst kind there is; as it’s not only frustrating but degrading.

Can I really not get this?

“I really think you’re making this harder than it needs to be,” I hear Mom like a buzzing fly in my ear as my mouth gapes at the impossible formula that portrays itself on my homework assignment.

“Look, honey. All you do is set the equation into ‘y=mx+b’ form and solve. It’s simple graphing from there.”

Again with the buzzing. I know she’s just trying to help, but it’s so hard to listen to someone who’s so good at math… When you yourself stink so much at it.

So much for being smart. So much for being a “potential National Merit Scholar”. I’ll never get where I need to go in life.

“I… I think I need a little break, Mom.”

I quickly get up and dash outside before she can say no. Grabbing my swimsuit, I plunge into the pool. It’s where I do my best thinking, where I can relax. It’s where I can be who I really am, a true fish. But right now, I’m thinking. I’m thinking that I’ve lost my cocky ego. Algebra 1 took care of that, now College Algebra’s destroying any that was left.

You took College Algebra so you could get a better score on the SAT. You can’t score high enough to get you scholarships, or even early admittance, to Division 1 state schools. You know you’d be a legacy at Texas A&M, but I guess that’s never going to happen. You won’t even get in.

Fear of failure spits on my face again. My goggles fog up as hot, salty tears fill them. I retreat to the protection of a shaded pool bench, where I can cry without anyone seeing. I collapse into the arms of Christ as I beg Him to give me the ability to attain an acceptable amount of mathematical understanding.

“God, please!” I cry, barely above a whisper; yet slightly audibly, “I need these SAT scores. With college the cost it is these days, I need scholarship money. Please, Lord; PLEASE equip me with an understanding of math. I can’t go where I want to go in life without it. I can’t go where I feel YOU’VE called me to go without it.”

Flash forward five months. SAT practice test first thing tomorrow.

“It’s your last chance, honey.”

I hear the words my mother recited into my ear just before bedtime a few hours before.

“If this program doesn’t improve your test scores enough, you’ll have to go to community college for two years to get credits out of the way.”

Lost in thought, I know I can’t do this on my own. With the bow of my head and the fold of my hands, I send up a prayer to the One who can do all things.

Breathe in. Breathe out. The essay was easy, so was the Critical Reading. Math’s next. Lord, please help me.

They just started the timer.

Question one, easy. It always is. Question two, same… Question 10 is a tough one… but wait, I get it! Question 16, carry the two… done! Wow, that was simple. I can’t believe I got stumped on a problem like that last time.

They call time, and I’m done with the math section. It was easier than expected.

Two hours later, and SAT math = success. Complete and utter confidence as I walk out of the classroom. Within a week, I’ll get my scores, and can only improve from there until the actual SAT. Maybe it was the hard work? Maybe, but it was also the prayer. With a smile on my face, I send up a thank you to God for His help and guidance.

He’s helping me achieve my dreams.