Maria Boleaga- A change of good

Maria Boleaga

English 110

February 18, 2015

A Change of good

     I am not going to assert how perfect I read or speak English and Spanish. I will certainly talk  about a time of my life that changed the way I use to see things. I was about five or six years old when I read a book called The little red hen, I may not remember the little things I did after I’ve read this book but that’s where my mother comes in to help me out in remembering these moments.  I remember  reading this book lots of times, whether it was translated in English or Spanish I would always pick out this book. It was probably the first book I had read in English with lots of words in it. But when I read this book I began to change my ways in helping my mother. Although I was just five or six when I read this book as I grew older I began to read more books and saw the importance of reading books. I believe that certain books can teach you a lesson on things and sometimes we don't need to learn by seeing things or by hearing we can read them in books. But also reading can help expand one's vocabulary.

  Born in a Spanish speaking family meant that I only spoke Spanish at home. My school had classes that were only taught in English and others were bilingual classes, I was sure happy that I was able to speak both languages in class. I loved going to school because of all the fun things going on in class, but when it came to reading in class and speaking in front of everyone I  detested it. I used to hate reading, don’t get me wrong I love reading however I was a timid girl that felt like whenever I was going to speak in front of my classmates I was going to be laughed at in my pronunciation of words . But I wasn't always a timid girl. I enjoyed staying at home as much as I enjoyed reading. At home I was like an energetic monkey that kept jumping from bed to bed playing the lava game with my younger sister, I remember my mom constantly yelling at us to stop jumping up and down before we get hurt. My mom was a hardworking mother, my father well  he was always working late. My mother was  always balancing things with her two hands, having to cook for us but also being there when we were in need of comfort. She had told me that when I  began going to school I would wake up ready to go to school, and when I came back from school I would take out my favorite book and read or watch cartoons on tv.

  Honey colored hair, long bouncy curls, freckled face, brown eyes, tall and lean my kindergarten and first grade teacher Ms. Dejesus. I still remember her like it was yesterday, her flower sweet scent can never be forgotten. She helped me be a better student as well as a better reader; although I was a timid girl in class the only person I ever spoke too was my teacher Ms. Dejesus. Ms. Dejesus always made each student feel safe and comfortable in her class. On the first day of  class she told the whole class that each week we were going to pick out different books and take them home to read, but first she was going to test all of us to see what level were we in so we can pick out the right books for us to read. About three  weeks later we began picking out our books; I was so content to pick my books. We each had a baggie in our tables so we can put them inside, while everyone was taking a nap Ms. Dejesus called  table by table to go pick out our books. Not me I didn't want no nap so I had my head down on the table but I kept one eye open to see my classmates pick their books out just waiting till my table was called. As soon as my table was called I speed walked to the book section, as I picked out my books I saw a book that grabbed my attention it was a yellow book with bright red letters written on it, it was called The little red hen. It wasn't just the bright red letters that caught my attention it was the illustrations of the cover, it surprised me as to why the little red hen was all alone. When I saw this book I knew that it was a level or two higher than the level I was suppose to read but I took it anyway. That same day I went home and began reading The little red hen book.

  Laying down on a nice made bed with lots of stuffed animals surrounding me was the most quiet and relaxing place to read my books. While my mom was cooking I was reading in my comfy bed with my books. I started with The little red hen book first, as I began reading I came across a few words that I didn't understand as well as how to pronounce them. I knew I couldn't  ask my mother because she didn't know English, but that did not stop me from reading this book. The more I read this book the more I grew to love it, it was so interesting that it made me think that if these other animals had helped the little red hen harvest and cut the wheat for the bread then they could have gotten a piece of bread that the little red hen had made. I didn't want to put this book down ever, I told my mom at dinner about this fascinating book that I had read just moments ago and told her that the little red hen reminded me of her.  She was always working hard but had no one older to help her since we were too young to help my mom. I remember that there was also a translated book of The little red hen so I brought it home so my mom could have an understanding of what I was trying to tell her. As time went by I began speaking in front of everyone and helped my other classmates to help clean the tables after we had finished doing a craft project and when I had asked to help clean they began to follow my steps.  My mom told me that I would always pick this book out whether it was in English or Spanish I would always have it in my bag of books. She would always tell me to bring a different book, but I didn't want to because this book had turned out to be my favorite one.

    My mother told me once that when I was about seven or eight years old I had asked her if she needed help, she said it was a hot summer day and my sisters and I had accompanied my mother to the supermarket. She always took a red cart to put the shopping bags in there, we used to go to C-town a  market that was always full with people inside, children crying, parents trying to calm down their children while getting their vegetables in a plastic bag, workers yelling back and forth at each other and then there was my family. My mom told me to take care of my little sister beside the shopping cart while my older sister and her went to pick out fruits and other things. Once we got to our apartment building I saw my mom struggling in taking the shopping bags out of the cart, I decided to ask her if she needed help with the bags because my older sister had already gone upstairs, she said yes. Although she only let me take about three bags I knew that if I helped her more often I was going to get rewarded like in The little red hen, I was rewarded with a thank you and food my mom made. My mom was so happy when I asked to help her but she always told us that she would like for us to enjoy our childhood as much as we can and when we reach a certain age we would begin helping her.

As I got older I began using this strategy that whenever someone asked for help I would certainly help them because I knew that maybe one day I would be in need of help. But sometimes when I helped someone they wouldn't even say a "thank you," it bothered me when someone I had helped never said a thank you but I soon realized that even though I wasn't being appreciated I knew that I had done something generous. Ever since I put this book in my bag I knew that it would be my favorite book, not only did I learn to be helpful I learned new vocabulary words as I read more books. At the beginning of my school years I didn't like reading or speaking in front of my classmates, not even when they needed help. It all changed when I took this book out. I realized that being helpful to my classmates things could change differently. I believe that when we read books we can learn something from them as well as expanding our vocabulary. Reading is important, we can teach each other new things that we have read. This was an important time of my life because when I look back to this it brings joy to my heart.I sometimes look back to this book and realized how much this book helped me be who I am today with the help of my mother and teacher Ms. Dejesus.