Reading and Writing Skills I remember when I started kindergarten. It was August 27, 1990. I'm still a little angry about that day because it was my fifth birthday and I still remember that that day I couldn't wear a crown like my other classmates did on their birthday. I guess I couldn't wear the crown because it was the first day of school. But other than that, kindergarten was a really great year. In the morning we would go around the classroom to different stations and play different games, then we would go to PE, then lunch, and finally nap time. That was the year I learned to count to a thousand. My teacher, Mrs. Collins, would sit with us and we would count every morning. And every morning we counted a little higher. She read to us too. I don't remember what we read, but it was a great source of entertainment for me and I remember being very interested in what we were reading. I think this is what got me interested in reading book series when I was younger. Everything I chose to read from that point on kept me interested and made me want to read more. My first year of elementary school went like this. In first grade I learned to read and write. My inspiration that year was my teacher, Mrs. Garza. I remember thinking she was the nicest woman I had ever met (aside from my mother) and I did everything I could to try to impress her. In my class there were two different reading groups. The best readers were the cardinals and all the others the robins. I was a cardinal. Mrs. Garza would sit with us and we would read different stories and that's how we got better. I was definitely a good kid when it came to school back then. Reading was so interesting to me... middle of the paper... the biggest moment in life so far was graduating from high school. There were days in high school when I didn't know what the future held for me because I found many obstacles and I didn't know how I would overcome them. The most important thing was that, despite how hard my job was and how much I hated reading and writing what I was assigned, I still enjoyed reading what I liked in my free time and playing the piano. I also wrote a diary. All of these things were a big part of my growth in high school. I know that as I go to college I will encounter many obstacles that will arise. Already in the third week I had to read things I hated reading and I had to put my opinions aside and do what was expected of me. I hope to expand my reading and writing skills as I continue to receive an education and hope to do what my teachers expect of me.