In 1995, the Indians were on their way to winning a World Series, and as a fourth grader I became very interested in the games and players. As of result of this event, I began to read the newspapers in the morning with my father and I would here the speculation about the chances of the team and all the latest news about baseball. This event led me to begin reading the newspaper for other reasons and I enjoy doing so still today.

 In 1999, the Columbine shootings occurred and this tragic event furthered my reading of magazines and articles relating to school shootings. As a seventh grader, the news of children dying at school really scared me and I wanted to learn as much as I could about the reasons this was going on. As a result of the shootings, I began to read magazine articles and tributes to the various students and families affected by this tragedy. We also  read many things in class about the child shooting issue and discussed it in my religion classes.

The 2000 election was when I first began to read about politics and learn about our government. As we as a nation held our breath to see who would be our president, I began to read my father's economist magazine to hear about world politics and the United States affect on them. I also began to search online about the issues surrounding the 2000 election because I was interested in the political scene.

September 11th 2001, also affected my literacy. This event led me to read about different cultures such as the Muslim nations and learn about their customs. I began to read the newspaper heavily again and searched for answers at how this could have happened. I wanted to understand why anyone would ever fly a plane into a building just to kill Americans. I began to read about these issues and we discussed them heavily in my classes after this event changed America.

The War in Iraq, like September 11th had me reading more newspapers, magazine articles and online websites because I was trying to form an opinion on whether we should invade Iraq.  I also wanted to know the history of American conflict with Iraq.

All of these events, especially the shootings, September 11th and the War in Iraq, all led to my development as a writer. After the tragic events of the Columbine shooting, and after September11th, I began to journal heavily about what I was feeling. It helped me deal with the reality our nation was facing if I privately wrote about it before I went to bed. Also, all of these topics were brought up in my classes and I needed to form an opinion about them and many times wrote how they affected my life.  These events, as tragic as some of them were, did advance my writing.