Literacy Snapshot, E342 Monday (Joe Kartholl)

For the past three days our assignment was to document what we read in our lives each day. At first I thought this assignment was going to be a cake walk, but that was before I realized how much I read in a day. I guess I never realized how fortunate I am to be able to read. Being able to read and write in today's culture means everything. From reading a recipe to using a computer, almost everything we do is centered around the ability to read consciously or unconsciously.
The one source that I found myself reading everyday was the IDS. Every morning on my walk to the education building I pick up the new IDS. I read most of it before class and, if I don’t finish what I’m reading, sometimes during class. This week I also found myself reading a few text books, a bill I got in the mail, a Newsweek, and I’m kind of embarrassed to say part of the magazine In Touch. As I was standing in line at Kroger to pay for my groceries, I just happened to pick up the latest copy of In Touch. Well I guess it didn’t just happen that I picked up this magazine. I actually read, and sometimes buy it pretty much every time I’m checking out at the Grocery store. I would read Star or US Weekly, but come on In Touch is a dollar cheaper.
The majority of things I read this week were off of the computer. My daily routine was something like checking Umail to Facebook, to Oncourse, to Facebook, to YouTube, to Yahoo, to CNN, to ESPN, and back to Facebook again. I really should spend most of my time on Oncourse, but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. If I would spend half the time preparing for class as I do messing around on the Internet I think I would have a 4.0, but it is what it is I guess.
I think the biggest thing that caught me off guard this week was the level of unconscious reading I do everyday. Just walking to class or driving down the street and looking at the street signs is something that I don’t think about very much. I thought about how it was very hard to buy things in Mexico when I went to the store and how much harder it would be if you couldn't read at all. This project has taught me how grateful I am to be able to read.