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04.30.2001 Entry: "My teachers never learnt me to read"

While talking with someone today they told me that I write weird. I asked them what they meant and they told me I have bad grammar. It really didn’t bother me because I know I do. In school I was one of those kids that goofed off all the time and didn’t take anything serious. I can remember all the way back to the third grade where I went to special classes for reading. I remember being so embarrassed for having to take remedial classes and ended up hating school. I pretty much took those types of classes till my sophomore year in high school. It was not till then that they realized I was dyslectic.

Once they found that out I got put back into regular classes and got special privileges. I got everything from not having to do certain assignments to being able to take tests home. They even hooked me up with books on cassette tape so I wouldn’t have to read. You would think with all these extra privileges that I would have brought my grades up above a D average. But I didn’t, I know now my real problem was I just didn’t care about school. I never tried in any class except for art classes. Even in PE I got D’s and C’s and I played on the Basketball Team and the Volleyball Team.

It wasn’t till I started Junior College that I realized how important school is. I took a placement test and found out I only had a sixth grade reading level. I was really ashamed and felt like a complete idiot. It was at that point that I decided to change things. I spent two hours a day in a special reading class and went up from a sixth grade reading level to an tenth grade reading level with in one year. Even then I really wasn’t into school when it came to other classes like science and math. The only classes I really like in college were history and art classes. I remember taking a computer class and thinking, "what a bunch of dorks" not knowing that I would be one of them one day.

I ended up going to a computer trade school and got my little degree in Networking. Even when I went there I slacked. My biggest problem is I never learned to study so I just kind of figured it out on my own. I also never had any confidence in myself either so I kind of just excepted that I wasn’t smart. It wasn’t till I started studying for my MCSE and kicked some major butt on the tests that I realized I was pretty smart. That was the first time I actually was doing something on my own and I really enjoyed it. I had no teacher or homework and I worked at my own pace. I learnt more studying for my MCSE than I did the whole time at college.

Oh yeah for anyone reading this, I’m not a Microsoft guy anymore. I work with Unix and Linux everyday so don’t make fun of me = )

$bash rules