Draft 2- Personal Literacy Narrative

A person’s history is always a starting point to understand them. Literacy history is comprised of reading, writing, and communication profiles. These profiles can be affected by any event or experience in the person’s life. If the goal is to understand the person’s literary skills, then their literacy and personal history must first be understood.

One of the first ways to get to know someone in college is asking them what their major is. A person’s major is a good way to start a conversation and find out their interests or ambitions. My major is civil engineering which focuses on pretty much every structure society uses such as dams, roads, or buildings. Civil engineering is such a broad field that it has many sub-fields such as environmental engineering, structural, water resource management, geotechnical, and transportation. I chose civil engineering as it is a very honorable field and is so broad that I will never be out of work and can go anywhere in the world to work. A civil engineer is very knowledgeable about the world around them and I want to have that same insight.  Another very big reason I chose civil engineering is that I love architecture because I think of every structure as a monument to all of our achievements as humanity. So much thought and technology goes into every standing structure that they represent human accomplishment in general. It is going to be a lot of work and time before I become a civil engineer, but I believe it will all be worth it. The only way I am going to get there though is by using all of skills I have learned so far in my life.

            The one thing or experience that has taught me the most lessons, skills, or impacted me the most is football. I think of football as the greatest thing in my life and I would be a different person without football. The sport gave me confidence and a lifestyle of athleticism and leadership that I will have for the rest of my life. The impacts are so far reaching for me that I do believe it has impacted the way I read, write, and communicate with others. In football, I had to memorize formations and plays extremely fast. I then had to communicate those topics to others out on the field in split seconds before the ball was snapped. When I read or write, I do it just as systematically or confidently as if I was in the weight room. I break things like books and essays into parts or just jump right into them. Just grinding away on a book or essay feels just like working out. Then football has greatly influenced the way I communicate with others. If I had never done football, I would probably be extremely shy and not socialize with people at all. I made so many friends and met so many people that everywhere I went, I met someone I knew and that is beginning to happen here at Sacramento State as well. I meet people from my high school and then all of the friends I made last semester. I am constantly trying to do my best and make new friends here at school. The confidence to just start a conversation and get to know somebody here at school would not exist without football. Football is a team sport and one of the many lessons it taught me was that life is a team sport as well. There are going to be times when I need the assistance of those around me and I have not found a better example of that lesson then college. The only way I am going to make it through a tough major like civil engineering is through support from friends. I have learned about so many resources and seen new places on campus thanks to communicating and spending time with friends. Football impacted everything in my life including my reading, writing, and communication skills. The lessons I learned will continue to serve me.

            Reading, writing, and effective communication are very important in college and life in general. I need to master those topics in school to become a civil engineer. They are so important in the field of civil engineering that they are the cornerstones right beside technical math skills. Instructors in the civil engineering department and prominent engineering figures in the Sacramento area continually preach how important reading, writing, and communication skills are in civil engineering. Civil engineers need to read through piles of local and state building codes, bid orders, and technical drawings in their career. They must have clear and precise handwriting and language in any document they touch as discrepancies may lead to huge financial costs or even loss of human life. A civil engineer must always do their best work because their projects may be used by millions of people annually and if that project was to fail then people may be hurt. Then finally communication skills are imperative to a civil engineer. They must be able to communicate ideas from those building codes, bid orders, or technical drawings to anyone they deal with whether it be customers, other engineers, workers, or politicians. It is often said that even if a civil engineer is a math genius and that is all they do then they will not advance that high in the field. The civil engineer that has good communication skills will always advance further and faster than the math genius. Those three skills will be my greatest skills to develop throughout my career. Civil engineering, football, and all of my lessons and skills define who I am. They will define me throughout my career and the rest of my life.