Gabriel Diaz Literacy

Hello! My name is Gabriel Diaz and I am a freshman majoring in business management. I enjoy traveling, making clothes, learning about art, and collaborating with my friends on their clothing brands/anything artistic. Art/fashion has always been a huge part of my life, and people are usually pretty surprised that I don't go to an art school. I chose not to because I would much rather learn how to run a successful business and put myself in a position to eventually run my own fashion house and art gallery. I took this class because I was interested in the conversations that might be had in a class like this, but unfortunately we won't be meeting on zoom every week. I am still excited for this course because I enjoy discussing current world issues and I hope that this semester goes smoothly even though we won't be meeting up on zoom. 

These are some photoshoots that I have been apart :

    Literacy has always been a huge part of my life, and I can remember seeing my mother reading books all the time when I was a child. When I was growing up I lived with my grandmother and she only spoke Spanish. This caused a problem when I enrolled in school because I knew very little English and was placed in the ESL class. After the 4th grade I was finally losing my accent and learned how to read and write in English. During this time, my mother was my biggest supporter and she encouraged me to read a book every two weeks just like she did. Of course I was not reading any complex literature at this time, but I enjoyed fiction books such as "Holes" and "Esperanzas Rising." I do not remember a time where I was discouraged to read, being that I enjoyed it so much. Every time the teacher would ask me to read for the class I never hesitated, and would always ask to read more than my part. I finally began to feel literate around the 6th grade, and this is where my love for reading really flourished. The "100 book challenge" was a yearly assignment and it encouraged kids to read 100 books in a school year! Of course reading that many books in a year is insanely difficult, even for an avid reader, but I was able to read the entire "Diary of a wimpy kid", and "Percy Jackson" Series in one year! This is when I began to feel literate, and understood that I passed my phase of not knowing the English language.

     My favorite Literary activities were going to museums and art galleries and learning about all the different history by reading the labels. When I was young, my uncle used to bring me to NYC almost every weekend, and we would go to every museum/art gallery available. He was my biggest role model and i'm glad I got to spend a lot of time with him before he passed away. He always made sure to remind me that my education is important, and I attribute me attending college to him. 

  Learning how to read and write is one of the most important things a human being can do for themselves. Literacy is very important ( to me at least) because without it I would not be able to communicate, learn, or live my everyday life. I find it fascinating how people can write words on a paper and have the reader visualize where the story is taking place. I continue to use literacy in my personal life because without it I would not be able to design clothes, learn about different artists, or communicate with my peers. I could write an entire essay about how I use literacy in my personal life, but i'm sure that would bore everyone reading this! My inspiration for my literary development is my desire to keep learning about everything around me. I am also surrounded by a bunch of people who read everyday, and my friend Glyn Brown 

always recommends books for me to read. Im happy that I didn't let outside opinions steer me away from my goals, and I am also grateful that I can continue my education at a college level. 

This is me :)