Carroll Dantelle, English 367: My Story

>>Carroll Dantelle: 

	Hello, my name is Dantelle, I am a part of the English 367 class, in which I am definitely looking forward to getting involved in the community, especially Columbus seeing as how it is new to me.  I was born and raised in Xenia, Ohio, which is very small, I graduated high school in 'O6, went to community college- St. CLair's Community COllege in Dayton- and attended there for about a year. I was out of school for about a year due to financial reasons, and then the beginning of this academic year- which would've been 2009- I transferred to the Ohio State University.  Other than that, Columbus is new to me, this my first time being here, so getting the experience to go out and explore the community and different organizations around Columbus that are actually offered is a great experience for me, it's nothing that I've actually done before.  To actually go through and collect narratives and literacy stories from different people is a great thing. I feel like you can learn a lot from just asking someone their own story because you're never aware of what is around you and you can't judge a book by its cover so when you do your research and you kind of ask questions, that is the method of learning.  And you can learn a lot from different people, from your peers- more than you ever thought or expected, or thought you could.  Focusing specifically on literacy is something nice, because I think there's a great problem within the United States, well, within the world, period, with people not being able to read or write and I think that that has a lot to do if our success rate and people feeling as though they're intimidated to apply for college, to apply for internships, to apply for different jobs and careers in businesses. 
	
	I think the problem is something that needs to be addressed, it needs to be brought up to somebody at a higher standing that could possibly maybe do something about it.  The first way to do so is to get the stories out there, and let it be known that this is actually a problem, and that there is something that we need to be doing.  We can start by standing up and letting people speak for themselves and letting their words stand out.  Stories are something that- well, people, of course, can make them up, but they don't come from anywhere.  Experience and wisdom take people a long way.  I feel I am going to gain a lot from this class not only personally, but just being able to go out and explore, meeting new people, but I feel as though I can maybe share a few stores with people and enlighten them and open their eyes, and see that it is possible, because I've been through many struggles throughout my only 21 years of being here.  

	I feel like when you share stories, you come to realize there are others out there like you. It may not seem like it is possible, but you keep a positive mindset and you become persistent and you don't give up it very well is possible.  And I would love to get out there and share a little bit of my stories and learn about others' stories and in doing so, actually getting an education and getting credits for it as well.  So that is my narrative. Thanks.