Growing up in a biracial household was always an interesting experience. My mother would sing salsa cleaning the house and my dad blasted rap during parties. I would listen to my mother speaking Spanish with her relatives and be baffled that words could exist in different languages. That they could mean the same thing, have the same route word in Latin, or come to mean something completely different.
In grade school, My teacher began reading us a popular children's book during read aloud. I was enthralled. I would listen to the way her voice would wrap around the words and create a story where there was once only air. She made me see things in my mind with the words on a page. I was baffled, and from that moment on, hooked. Around this same time, I became obsessed with crime shows. It didn't matter the content, as long as it was centered around crime. Criminal minds, Bones, Law and Order, and CSI were some of my favorites. They also further expanded my vocabulary and understanding of the world, which was one of my favorite parts.
By the time I reached high school I had read and collected about 300 books. I could read so fast my mom complained about having to buy me so many. I could read a book a day, many times multiple in only hours. I began branching out, reading fantasy, realistic fiction, classic literature, biographies, and mysteries. The characters were my friends and the authors: my teachers.
I was so adept with vocabulary that my peers in high school began calling me "The Encyclopedia". They continuously asked why I used such big words in mundane conversation and I couldn't answer because the habit was so ingrained that I didn't even realize I was. I was also known for always carrying a book with me, sometimes multiple in the event that I finished the first in school. Even my teachers knew I read incessantly, and some even had to confiscate my books simply to hold my attention in class.
But, by the end of high school I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I was lost, with only my love of words and books behind me. One of my favorite classes in senior year was Economics and Law. We studied laws and watched movies to see the laws practically applied. One day my teacher was talking about good jobs in the law field and he told us about Court Reporting. He said they needed to be extremely comfortable with the English language and that it was steady with benefits and there was no shortage of work. So I looked into it and discovered how right he was.
I am now in my final year as a Court Reporter in New York Career Institute. Although sometimes it's daunting I know that this field suits me, my sensibilities, and my strengths perfectly and I intend to work to the very best of my ability.
"Quality is not an act, It's a habit"- Aristotle
