Literacy is the ability to functionally use a learned skill. As we all know there are many other kinds of literacies besides academic. We do not only learn in a classroom setting. We learn something new every day from our surroundings. The environment we grow up in can have a huge impact on how we will turn out as adults. This story was about a woman reflecting on her summers spent picking cotton and how it molded her into the person she is now. At first she repressed these memories and hated even having to do it. While going through something unpleasant we only see the negative, until we have time to reflect upon it.
I can relate to this story because I have many similar experiences. Being a child I used to worry about how much fun I could have instead of the educational value in doing something. My mother being wiser than me would constantly enroll me in vigorous educational summer programs and special schools. She made the decision for me to go to a Tavis Smiley summer program in California against my will. The first few days I hated it with all my heart until the last two days. Now when I look back on this experience words can’t explain how much I appreciate having had the opportunity to participate in something like that. It exposed me to all new ideas, new people, and the idea that I could go to college.
We should take her advice as a lesson about appreciating our pasts. Smith says people grow by “interrogating their experiences even those they had forgotten or wished they had forgotten for hidden success of comfort, clarity, and fortitude.” (Smith 41) We should take opportunities the good with the not so good as they come, because like they say “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. Every new experience teaches us something new, increasing our literacies.
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