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Jerry Tunney
UWRT 1103
Dr. Rand
24 September 2014
Literacy is something most people take for granted. It is mostly a silent, never recognized
part of our society. However without it, the world as we know it would not exist. Some people
recognize this, while most dont. Everyone in this country is required to go to school and the first
thing taught it how to read and write. How could something so important go almost unnoticed by
so many? It makes you stop and think about the story behind who you are because of your
literacy background.
I had gone through and covered every part of a sentence possible in the English language
by 8th grade, or so I thought. My 8th grade English class was by far the hardest class I have ever
taken and probably will ever take. Not in terms of material, it seems easy to me now, but the
amount and in depth look my teacher gave us into proper English grammar. It was a far stretch
from the usual English/Literature classes I had been taking up until that point. We learned how to
completely dissect sentences, categorize every word, then sub categorize every word. The class
was also naturally progressive. What we learned in week four needed to be remembered for week
fifteen. (Only if you wanted to pass the test) This was incredibly burdensome on us eight graders,
who up until that point had mostly cruised through grade school without studying much.
However, looking back, I know realize what my teacher was trying to instill in us. I am now so
thankful that I had the opportunity to take her class, and have a teacher who cared enough to
push us to learn as much as possible. She knew what was best for us and pushed us to succeed
and learn as much as possible. This started my true formal education on literacy; all events that

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happened after were just additional knowledge that added to my skills and abilities. In my next
literacy event; attending a racing school how to race wasnt the only thing being taught.
From the time I was able to understand what cars were and how they worked; Ive been
obsessed with them. I loved drawing them as a kid (only thing I could really ever draw well),
playing with hot wheels, assembling model cars, and helping my uncle at his body shop.
Naturally, when I was old enough to race them (13 at a track near me in NY) it was all I focused
on. I had been saving money for years, and when I was twelve, purchased my first race car. My
dad, uncle, and I added all the necessary safety equipment and go fast parts. It took about 6
months to complete, but in the spring of 2008 we were ready to go. There was a huge learning
curve. (A few crashes, failed parts, mistakes on my part) but by the end of the season, I had
accumulated 11 wins and was nominated rookie of the year. Hard work, determination, and the
ability to ask for help from fellow competitors when I need it attributed to this success early on.
From that point forward, my whole life focus was centered on racing. Racing requires money,
which I didnt have much of, so I applied for a scholarship at a racing school in Denver, North
Carolina and was accepted into the 2011 class of 14 students from all over North America. It was
a school designed over the course of a year, to help you become a well rounded race car driver.
Half the course was on the mechanical aspect of racing, and the other half was focused on the
marketing and public relations side. Once or twice a month, there would be a weekend class held
at the race shop in Denver, so I would have to miss school on Thursday and Friday to drive ten
hours south to attend the classes, then drive home late Sunday night, sometimes not getting home
until 4-5 in the morning, only to wake up and go to school at 7. When I wasnt in class at the
school, we would have online interactive seminars 2 times a week, one on the mechanical side,
and one on the marketing side. You can be the best driver in the world, but if you are unable to

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speak well, write press releases, conduct interviews, and act in a professional manner, companies
will not want to have anything to do with you. Companies are the monetary support you need to
continue what you love doing; racing. So, doing all these things to the best of your ability can
help you become successful in such a cut throat sport.
Who here know how to correctly market yourself? Write press releases, write sponsorship
proposals, write and read contracts, how and when to update your website, Facebook, Twitter,
how to send professional emails regarding sponsorship? How to write a news article?
No one in the class raises a hand
Thats exactly why you are here, By the end of this year, you should know how to do
everything I just talked about and more, on your own, whenever you have to. You will have to,
because were going to make you do it until we cant tell the difference between yours and a
professionals. That way, when your projected audience reads it, it wont be some crappy
thrown together, nonprofessional, boring old press release that no one wants to even look at.
You need to make it stand out, and make people interested and want to read it
This is a rough memory from our first day in the marketing class, and being only 14 at the time, I
was pretty scared by this. I was sitting in a class with students with an average age of 19, and
really had no idea what they were talking about. All I knew though was that I would have to
learn because it was very important to what I loved to do, race. Thankfully, I had a very good
foundation from my 8th grade English class. I wouldnt have to worry about that. My main worry
was about writing all these different kinds of articles and proposals. I had a severe lack of
experience going in, since I had never even truly written an essay in school yet. The bulk of my
experience in writing was in the form of book reports, which werent exactly hard to do. Now, I

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had to learn how to write things I had assumed were done mostly by professionals, and I was
nowhere close to that. My first project was writing a press release announcing my admission and
scholarship to the school, and promoting it any way possible; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, our
website, and submitting it to our local newspaper. Because of its widespread publication, it had
to be very professional looking, and virtually error free. I had a solid background in writing, and
my instructors at the school taught me how to put it all together and distribute it accordingly.
Throughout the year we learned much more on presentations, website building, sponsorship
proposals, and press releases. Finishing the school, I was still a freshman in high school, and felt
like I had a huge advantage over my classmates when it came to writing, even though it wasnt
my favorite thing to do or best subject.
I realized that experience in doing something can really help you in areas you may not be the
best at or even enjoy doing. If I wasnt motivated so much by racing, I wouldnt have learned so
much about writing, definitely wouldnt have gotten good grades on my school papers, and
wouldnt be where I am today in my racing career. Its funny how such an overlooked part of our
daily lives really impacts it so much. If you have a desire and passion to do something, you are
going to need to be fluent in many different literacy than only the ones you are interested in. I
never would have imagined how much writing there is in my Engineering course. I went in with
the idea and belief that I had finally been able to get away from writing a bunch of papers and get
to focus on math and science, which I enjoy a lot more. Yet here I am with the new realization
that engineering requires a ton of writing. So far, more time has been spent typing up papers than
doing actual math problems or engineering work. However, I am glad that I paid attention in
English and had my experiences in racing school, because it makes the work a lot easier to
complete. Had I not been so literate in writing reports and papers, engineering would be so far a

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big discouragement. I would be very overwhelmed to do well and get things done on time.
Nothing worth doing can be accomplished without literacy in some form. You never know when
or how you may acquire it, but if the opportunity presents itself, jump on it.
Writers Reflection
1. I think the most successful part of my paper is my second literacy event. It felt the most
natural to write about because I clearly remember it, and know how it had affected my
life in a big way. It was an important and memorable event to me.
2. Im proud of the fact I got out of the paper what I was supposed to. I now realize the
correlation between literacy and my everyday life. It affects it so much and I never really
noticed it before.
3. If needed, I would have gone back home and tried to find more notes from 8th grade to
see if it was what I remember it to be. Going back and looking at it may have provided
some other memories/experiences that could have played a role in the paper.
4. I want the reader to realize how much literacy, specifically English literacy, plays a role
in your life. Even if you are a math and science kind of person, your English and
grammar literacy is vastly important to your success.

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