After going over both of my timelines the connections are pretty obvious on how they connect. My school timeline starts with me at age 6 when I was placed in to an afterschool accelerated learning center. Here I learned ASL and Spanish as well as math and English concepts reserved for older children. This started developing how I write and how my mental process works. I was in the learning center for four years until the age of 10. Early in my sophomore year in high school I was afford the opportunity to submit an invention to the University of South Florida’s Young Innovator competition. I was fortunate enough to have my invention make it to the finals and placed 2^nd in the competition. This experience made me realize that I am able to go above and beyond the norm and that I was different. My junior year of high school was easy for me, so to challenge myself my counselor and I decided to enroll my in the four year school down the road for additional classes.  When I was accepted in to UNCC I was again afforded another life changing opportunity, to be in the Business Honors Program. This program has allowed me to think outside of the box and aspire higher than I thought was previously possible. Following coming to UNCC I rushed and was accepted into Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. This once again changed my life and helped me realize that what I am doing is for more than just myself, it is for the betterment of those around me.

My writing timeline starts with me at the age of 6 as well. Being in the learning center taught me how to free think. It taught me how to be my own person, to speak my mind, as well as to never change who I am for someone else. To be completely honest though, I have a certain distain towards writing and reading. This stems from when I was younger my mother would make me read a book and then re-write the book cover to cover in order to perfect my penmanship as well as to get me to think like a writer and see if I could see the different writing methods that were used. Those experiences are a major reason I write the way I do today. I am an emotional writer. By that I mean that I will sit down and just type everything that comes to mind and I become very passionate about what I’m writing. Most people that read my papers are able to feel the emotion I was feeling when I wrote it. Going into high school I was an elite athlete. I played baseball from the time I could walk. I went to many little league world series championships, and played against teams from all over the world. My sophomore year that was all taken away from me when I tore my rotator cuff in the middle of my All Star season. That hurt and agony I went through I was able to use it in my writing to really get the reader to have a mental connection with my writing.

Now looking back on both of the timelines I can see the connections. Most of the events in my life intertwine and they one usually leads to another.

Writing Timeline Reflection

Who, if anyone, affected you as a writer in childhood?

                My mother was the single largest contributor to me as a writer in my childhood. As stated above, she would make me read a book and then re-write the book so I could learn different writing methods and think about why a writer would write a book the way they did or what they were thinking about while engrossed in writing. Having to do that as a child really made me loath books and writing for leisure. To this day I don’t enjoy reading but I love to write. However, I can’t write for pleasure. Whenever I try to sit down and write I always convince myself that it doesn't matter what I write, that it will be bad and looked down on. Therefore, I always find something else to work on.

What made your best writing experience your best?

                My tenth grade year my teacher gave us one night to write a 4 page paper on a 30-60 minute time span and for us to explain the event in detail. I loved that assignment. I liked the feeling of being under the pressure to write what I was feeling. She didn't give us the time to be able to edit it time and time again. It was a paper full of emotion and exquisite detail produced in a very short time frame. To this day my teacher swears it was the best piece of writing I ever wrote, and I believed it was too.  The fact that we weren't able to sleep on it and then wake up refreshed and edit it a few times really allowed for the true, personable, message to seep through the words.

What genres do you like to write?

                I love to write fiction that’s based on non-fiction. I like to be able to take real world ideas and experiences and turn them into something new, something different. I am able to take an idea and tweak it to allow for creative freedom to shine through or for someone to be able to see the original idea from a different light.  

What generalizations or discoveries can you make that might apply to other writers?

                That personal experiences can be used to fuel a writers writing and that for a reader to fully understand and connect with a piece the writer needs to write with emotion.

School Timeline Reflection

What did you discover about your path through high school?

                I discovered that my path through school was directly correlated with sports and my academic standing.  I found that from an early age I was held to a higher standard than those my age. My path through school wasn't something that I really wanted to do. I wanted to be a normal kid in normal classes. I now realize that being in the special programs and being held to a higher standard was beneficial and that I wouldn't be the same person I am today had I not been involved in those programs.

Who, if anyone affected you on your path?

                I myriad of people affected me on my path. The list ranges from my mother, to my baseball coach, to my swim coach, to my bosses at work. Everyone I met had some effect on me on my school path.

Who influenced you the most? How did this person affect you?

                My mother had the largest influence on me as a child. My mom is one of the smartest, most successful, most stubborn and strong willed person I have ever met. Growing up I was never good enough. I was always told that someone else was doing it better and that I need to work harder. I was never told of the good that I was doing, just of the wrong. In sports I was always told that I needed to get more help and needed to be the best. Looking back on my childhood I always used to think my mom wasn’t proud of me, but now I realize that she did the things she did in order for me to push myself in everything I did to become the best. Once I achieved being number 1, then and only then, would she admit to me that she was proud and that I had done well.  Some may think that no parent should raise a child like that, but It worked for me. I push myself in everything I do and I do not stop until I am at the top.

What generalizations or discoveries can you make?

                I see that a lot of how I am today stems back to mom and how I was raised. I see that I had a need to win over my mom’s affection and admiration in order to feel good enough. I see how i was raised shaped me into the man I am today and i wouldn't change it for anything. I wouldn't take back any part of past if i could.