A literacy sponsor in my life is my best friend Yarlyn. She taught me a new form of language and knowledge and taught me to not be afraid to show who I really am. When I first moved to the United States I was a very timid child who didn’t really know the language. I would be afraid to make friends and socialize with people I would barely even know. Until I met Yarlyn, she is a very outgoing person who accepted me for me, although I was very timid. She looked past that and taught me to not be afraid to show off my outgoing side. She is also from the Dominican Republic which means that we related to a lot of stuff in our lives. It was as if I found my sister from another mother, born in another country. I was born in the Dominican Republic while she was born in the United States, which meant that we each taught each other a little bit about each country. She further taught me the English language while I introduced her to more of the Dominican culture.
I vividly remember when I first met her. It was 6th grade science class, the first day of school. At the time I didn’t know anybody in that school because it was the first day. I went into the classroom and confidently sat next to her not thinking twice about it. When we had time to talk to the people around us me and her spoke as if we had known each other for years, when in reality we did not at all. We chatted about each other with no tension whatsoever. Since it was middle school we had the same people in all of our classes, from that day on we were inseparable. We created a small group of friends, which I had never had, and created bonds that I will always cherish. She helped me break and get rid of the small shell of shyness that I had built up since I moved into the United States.
Karen, you situate this relationship in the complex between-two-worlds environment you lived in, and your care for Yarlyn really shines through what you wrote here. Great work.
Hi Karen,
It’s great that you found someone in a new environment to help you get accustomed. I also had a similar experience with my own best friend and it’s very uplifting because it gives you hope and energy to grow into something unfamiliar and make it your own!
It’s a great thing that you had a friend that was there for you when you had first arrived in the United States. Also, it admire that you guys are still friends to this day.
When I saw your Literacy Sponsor, it reminded me of my own. Similarly, I was enlightened bit by bit by a good friend, which improved my language ability a lot.
I can relate to your situation a lot, I myself also broke out of my shell with the help of my best friend. One of my favorite lines from your writing is, “It was as if I found my sister from another mother, born in another country” this simile holds a really deep meaning to me because this is exactly how I would describe my bestie too.
It’s really comforting when your in a situation where you feel out of place in a way, and there is someone there you can relate to. I can relate to your connection with your best friend because it’s so similar to mines and my experience moving away from everything I knew, she really helped me through it. I also love how you both had something to learn from each other.