A
person’s history is always a starting point to understand them. Literacy
history is comprised of reading, writing, and communication profiles. The profiles are records of abilities and
skills in those areas. 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. Reading, writing, and communication will be
my most invaluable skills in college and life. Nothing has influenced those
skills and me as a whole more than football.
Football
has taught me more lessons and skills than anything else. 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. (New paragraph) I defined myself as a football player and was proud of
being a part of something bigger than myself. The person I am today is all due
to football. To be a football player in my small town can only be described as
a dream and it felt like a five year long dream.
The impacts are so far reaching for me
that I do believe it has impacted the way I read and write. In football, I had
to memorize formations and plays extremely fast. 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. (New paragraph) The confidence to keep
striving and trying new things with my writing is all thanks to football.
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.
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. (New paragraph)
Civil engineering, football, and all of
my lessons and skills define who I am. 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.
These
skills and experiences will define me throughout my career and the rest of
my life.
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