Discussion of Personal Interview
Looking back at my own interview has been very difficult. It is hard to be objective when dealing with myself. I made my best attempt, however, and learned some interesting things. One of the major things that jumped out at me is that I am very lucky,have been very privileged. I had parents who wanted me to learn, who encouraged me to learn, and who instilled a love of learning in me. I know that is something that not everyone has and I am so grateful for that. Until this study, I hadn’t realized how lucky I am to come from a place where a supportive learning environment existed.
Another thing that I realized after reading my interview is that I am a really influencial sponsor at my school. Deborah Brandt’s definition of sponsor is “any agent, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enables, supports, teaches, models, as well as recruits, regulates, suppresses, or withholds literacy.” Everyday in my classroom I am sponsoring my students, or creating sponsors for them in some way. It really makes me wonder: how seriously am I taking this job as a sponsor? It has made me think more consciously about whether I am enabling, supporting, teaching and modeling or regulating, suppressing and withholding.
Another really interesting thing that kept coming up in nearly every interview question is how hard I have pushed myself to increase my literacy. My parents must have instilled a strong desire to learn and to grow because it seems that nearly every interview question is answered by discussing my love of learning, my goals and my desire to push myself. I began trying to learn before I started kindergarten, in high school, I pushed myself in advanced classes so that I could graduate among the top, even now as I take masters classes, it seems as though I keep striving to be more, to do better, to gain education. Rereading this interview, I cannot help but think about my Defining Literacy Essay. In it, I tried to explain that literacy defined me–that I am who I am because of my literacy. I hear that ringing true in this interview. It is as though I tie my identity with my literacy–that they are one in the same. And apparently, according to this interview, that has always been the case.
