A Book of Magic by Tony

A Book of Magic by Tony - May 2017 Scholarship Essay

As I sit in front of the computer screen my heart beats thump, thump… and then, the result appeared. Incontinence consumed my body as my eyes widened, my legs jumped and my hands clapped simultaneously; I was exhilarated. I scored a 100% on a reading test. And the book I was tested on was the most influential book of my life, or to be more precise, the turning-point for me. It was "The Witch Herself" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Gail Owens. Not a particularly hard book to read, certainly not anywhere remotely as thematically-rich or complex as the usual classics. And the reading-grade level of that book is probably around elementary to middle school at worst. I said “probably” because I’m a freshman in college now and I read that book when I was in sixth grade, so I don’t remember much. But I remember it so clearly because it was the first book in English, that wasn’t picture book, ever that I was able to read.
When my family and I moved to the US from Vietnam I struggled greatly with English. I communicate with classmates and teachers using body language like nodding as a signal for “yes” and shaking my head for “no,” and most of the time I don’t even understand the question being asked (though I’m glad that the body language of nodding and shaking head are consistent for both Vietnamese and English). Every day after school I jumped straight on the bus and go home; I never hang out, or have friends to hang out with, back in elementary and middle school. Of course, not having a firm grasp on the English language was the primary reason for my loneliness. It also doesn’t help that I have a shy and introverted personality.
Before sixth grade I was in the ELL (English Language Learners) program and they made me read picture books as opposed to more-advanced books my classmates read. And I despite having to do so. Because every I look up from my picture book to see everybody else following the teacher’s directions and read books full of tedious words that I don’t understand, I feel inferior and incompetent. It was embarrassing. However, when I moved on to middle school they don’t have ELL program, so I was to do the same amount of homework and reading everybody else in the class would, and I was glad of the change. Because I can then prove myself to be a competent learner like everybody else so I will no longer being underestimated or be regarded as a “special” student. Even back in Vietnam I was never an exceptional student, but learning the materials in my own native language never seems that hard as long as I try, but here, overcoming the language barrier seemed insurmountable.
One day my English teacher took the whole class to the school library to pick out books of our choice. I picked up a book that wasn’t a picture book, read it, and took a reading check test… and I got somewhere below 50% score; my first attempt at reading was unsuccessful. When I returned that first book to the library and search for another book to read I found The Witch Herself. I was able to read through this book and understand the content and the plot and the details. And it felt good. Then, I took the reading check test for this book and got a 100%. Pride and happiness overtook me. I know that as compared to the standards of reading for other students this is quite conventional. But at that moment I know I can do it: I can truly read. Not just glimpsing at the meticulous words and looking at pictures, but able to decipher to symbolic meanings of these arbitrary English words. It was like jumping into another dimension, from talking in Vietnamese at home and reading in another language, I could feel horizon expanded.
My teacher requires every student to pick out books to read and take the knowledge test when we have finished the book, and each book has its own amount of points based on its difficulty. And each student has a certain amount of points he needs to reach for each quarter to earn their participating points for that quarter, the point threshold for each student is based on the teacher’s assessment of his reading ability. In the first quarter, my threshold was 10 points and I couldn’t even make it to 5; in the fourth quarter my threshold was 30 (like everybody else) and I exceeded it with 150 points.
I can still recall the general plot of the book, but that isn’t important. Rereading that book as I am today will probably make me roll my eyes out of boredom. But its significant as a starter for me, as a gunshot signal for me to start running toward my goal as a competent and critical reader, is both monumental and life-changing.