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Kevin Chiu
Professor Adler
English 100, #3638
8 October 2014
Immersion
Sitting here in my sixth grade class, in the cold room, silently reading as I glance at the
clock ticking slowly. The sound of the tick drums in my ears, wishing that the time goes quickly.
My eyes following along the lines and back up in a repetitive motion. Goddamn I really hate
reading, I thought as I sighed, leaning forward to my concaved hand naturally formed into
position.
This was my thought process when I read novels. Ever since education got a level higher
each year, there werent many changes to my process. Ive read, didnt understand but as a
student who was confined to study and memorize everything, there were really no true
understanding. Because of many setbacks of not able to understand most concepts, I had to listen
to the people that gave the specific context; the teachers. Though we were all different, everyone
had the same idea in school. From memorizing words and complex equations, the mindset that I
had brought much late night sessions of studying. The light that shined onto my table late at
night, isolated from the dark rooms, I sat here onto the fixated light casting a shadow over the
words that I had to know for a test. My mind was focus on one task; memorize and pass this test.
Repeating the words and their definition till I memorized it all. All of my friends had this
mindset.
The fixed mindset, which I had, covered up and blinded the motivation that I needed to
grow. Although during high school, Ive never had the motivation to grow and gain knowledge
until the last few months as a senior. Though the only interest during high school was writing,
but I wasnt compelled enough to get any help. My mind was like a caterpillar, always wanting

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to feed and pick on the leaves of knowledge until I finally had a bare moment to think about my
education. During that time Id realized that college was coming to a beginning and had to know
my expectation enrolling to college. It was the stage of internally and mentally growing; the
cocoon stage.
Transitioning into college from high school, I had gain an interest of literacy between the
seasons of fall and summer. Though I cant recall in my past years of education, Ive had always
like one of the books we read in each year. In my senior year, I had enrolled in creative writing
to open my thought process as a writer.
From reading the novel The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell, Ive had started to
realize much more meaning into writing. With having not known the premise of the novel at
first, I had to question the meaning of the title. What was this book? Freedom Writers? I
questioned. After delving into the novel, it gave me to comprehend the messages on what they
were saying. From what they wrote, they had a language that connected to the readers that had
similar problems as them. Their voices, their thoughts, their words reached out to many people
and gave them the awareness on how lives can change from writing.
Because of the Freedom Writers novel, I now grasped that I have served a purpose on
writing especially in my creative writing class. My writing became stories to be read and those
stories to become topics to address in conversations. Literacy became language. The language
that addressed emotions and character that associated others to convey on what they read.
Realizing this gave me freedom from self imprisonment. The self containment keeping me away
from what I wanted and how I wanted to express myself in writing. Creative writing was the best
that gave me the freedom of expressing myself. But since it was a class, there were some

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requirements to each assignment. The requirement, I recall, was solely based on my opinion on
the subject. I always had a problem with the context that my teacher gave.
As I sat here thinking of what to write, my mind was blank. I hear people in the front
sniffing faintly. Momentarily tapping the pencil softly onto my composition book, the teacher
therapeutically sounded off his voice. Write and try to expand it. Moving his arms like a soft
spoken poet. I thought and kept thinking how to find the right answer or even trying to figure out
what the story comprehended. Even though I knew that he wasnt going to pick me to give out
my thoughts, I still had to know the answer. After he picked on few of my classmates, I had
realized that they all had different responses to the story. From that realization, everyone has a
different reaction to ones writing.
Because of that, it made me realize that stories and words convey to people as language.
Language became a movement, where people could interpret about anything from what they
read. Rita Mae Brown quoted, Language exerts hidden power, like a moon on the tides, telling
that language could be express in many ways that people may not realize. When I was a kid, I
never had the idea of actually following a story of a TV show. I understood the premise but not
the message it gave out. Throughout the years, I had became known and understand television
shows. From comedic sitcoms like Seinfeld to gritty crime shows like True Detective, knowing
the story was essential apart from the characters and their likeable personality. The language
gave away a message that the people could understand its intent.
Language from other people can be conveyed easily or hardly to anyone. Especially
coming from Asian descent, Ive never had the chance to voluntarily learn Mandarin or
Taiwanese. From Amy Tans short narrative Mother Tongue, who also came from Asian descent
explains how she can understand the language and the words of her mother. My grandparents

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and parents had years to gain the skill of speaking English. My mother speaks very limited
English and for me I could understand what she expresses. Although not many people cant
understand and interpret what she says, the connotation can be different from one another.
Though I was apprehensive to speak to people, my mother always had the chance to speak for
me. Now that Ive think about it, I feel embarrassed for my mother trying to speak broken
english to people who possibly couldnt understand.
From reading and trying to understand people, critical thinking became a habit. To think
and give an amount of a response can give the improvement of the subject in matter. From Bell
Hooks Critical Thinking, she quotes from Richard Paul and Linda Elder, the art of analyzing
and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it. With that, I think it is true because the
inability to even think and process what you express cant give out definition and in such
manner, they cannot compel themselves to understand the idea thats given. Being a critical
thinker, it gives so so much insight into the article or reading that we are introduced. Even with
other peoples insight, it could also gain another perspective and add an idea to the topic itself.
Critically thinking gave people words to understand and give people a chance to repel
with their thoughts. The thing about words itself, Ive always like words. Words that could tell a
story; a narrative and give so many messages that the reader might miss.
Through the years of trying to understand and realize that literacy gives out so much
power as a language, I have think that as an individual, I had grown in a mental aspect. From this
help of this understandment, Ive became immerse into the world of reading and comprehending
reading, giving out thoughts to one another.