The earliest memory I have of writing is carefully tracing the letter J on the blackboard in second grade. My letters were of course shaky and unsure of themselves. Some curved the wrong way, while others perfectly resembled the teacher's. As time passed, with repetition and diligence my letters became words and my words then became sentences.
In fourth grade we were beginning to write long papers and have other students read them. I was so excited. I had so many ideas, dreams and stories I wanted to share with my friends. As the first student picked up my paper to read it, my smile vanished as she started to laugh and point my paper out to other students.
"Why would they laugh?" I asked myself. My first feelings of fear and self-consciousness suddenly appeared. My whole elementary writing experiences were filled with people laughing at my spelling. They picked that one aspect about me and identified me as the dumb kid. I don't know if it was unique to my grammar school or if everyone has experiences like mine, but I never forgot, and that followed me until the day I left that school.
As I look back, I see myself avoiding anything and everything to do with writing. I was diagnosed with dyslexia, and in many ways that gave me the excuses I needed.
I gave up on myself. I thought that if I just ignored reading, writing and spelling they would go away, and I would never have to deal with them. However, like most problems, the longer you deny there is a problem, the more of a problem it becomes. It was incredibly frustrating to write something and then re-read it and know you had spelled it wrong.
In sixth grade I discovered the dictionary and a special teacher who believed in me. She saw potential in me and really encouraged me to overcome the obstacles in my path. I will always remember her for several reasons. First, she never did anything but encourage me to be all I could be in every aspect of my life. She slowly became more of a role model than a teacher.
She encouraged me to take the next step in gymnastics and really give it all I had. That year I joined the Texas State Team for women's gymnastics. She never missed one of my competitions. She taught me to use the experience of accomplishment and pride I learned from gymnastics in my schoolwork. She taught me to identify dyslexia as nothing more than an excuse to work that much harder.
Although writing always took me longer than everyone else, my spelling began to slowly improve. I started to remember that an "e" did go on the end of certain words, and that sometimes words are not always spelled the way they sound. It gave me a boost of self-confidence that somewhere along the way I had lost.
Somewhere between my freshman and sophomore years of high school I discovered the power of books. How could it be that these authors could provoke so much emotion and thinking? All new ideas stemmed from thoughts and concepts of others. I began to form opinions on important issues because I was educated on them. I learned that above all I would never be ignorant. Ignorance, I believe, is a self-made prison that people so many times lock themselves in for fear of hard work. Also I began to learn how to express myself through writing.
One day in June of 2001, I was given the most incredible gift there is to be given. I was able to save a life while life-guarding. That experience influenced me in so many ways, I wanted to share it with everyone I knew, but more importantly I never wanted to forget what it felt like. I wanted to look back and remember how my heart was pounding, how cold the water was and what I felt when I was holding that child. I sat down and wrote a paper on it. It was the first time I had ever just written as a form of self-expression.
I was set free by reading and writing in so many ways. I proved to myself that I can always overcome obstacles, no matter what. Even today I rarely tell people about my dyslexia. I think deep down I never accepted that I was different than anyone else. I never again used it as an excuse, but rather a reason to work harder. In many ways it motivated me to always take that extra step in everything I do. Dyslexia was my ally rather than my personal defeat.
I am not afraid any more, and I know that whatever I want can be achieved through persistence and hard work.
John C. Maxwell said, "Every worthwhile accomplishment has a price tag attached to it. The question is always weather you are willing to pay the price to attain it--in hard work, sacrifice, patience, faith and endurance."
In many ways, reading and writing were a great stumbling block for me in my early years. However, they were also my greatest accomplishments. I conquered not only reading and writing, but also my fear to work hard to achieve my goals, which for some takes a lifetime. So I leave you all with one final thought: Turn your weaknesses into strengths, never let them limit you; let them encourage you to overcome what ever obstacles may be in your path.
Everyone struggles with different things; it is just how you deal with it that makes all the difference.

--Jennifer Fischer is a communications junior. Her column appears every other Wednesday. She can be reached at opinion@oudaily.com.
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