Literacy Autobiography

     From a very young age, I wanted to be a writer. I had no idea what I wanted to write, but I knew I wanted to. My grandpa would take me to the library on a weekly basis, allowing me to check out books on wolves and other animals that I thought were "cool" as a six year old. I would make my parents read me Kipling's Jungle Book in order to fall asleep, and then dream about being raised by wolves. To this day I'm not quite sure why I was so interested with wolves; it was kind of a weird obsession actually. For whatever reason, though, this interest inclined me to read more complex novels at an inappropriate age, such as Jack London's White Fang and Call of the Wild. Of course, I had no idea what I was reading. The words were entering my brain but nothing was truly registering. The only reason I even attempted to read these books was because of my dad's raving about them. After all, he named his first German Shepherd "Buck" after the heroic dog from Call of the Wild.
     Once I hit middle school, my wolf obsession had been long gone. By this time I was reading novels by Ned Vizzini, and other authors that my English teacher, Ms. Emerson, suggested. Each book that she shoved in my face turned out to be impossible to put down. I read and wrote more throughout middle school than I have at any other point in my life because of that woman. In fact, it was because of Ms. Emerson that I was introduced to poetry.
     Before Ms. Emerson's classes, I imagined poetry as a few rhymes on a piece of paper that some old man or woman became famous for. Then I was introduced to Robert Frost, who did in fact fulfill my stereotype for a poet, but was also much more than that. It may have just been my love for The Outsiders, but for some reason I fell in love Frost.

     Because of my interest in Frost, I was introduced to further poetry, none of which stood out to me the way Frost had. Frustrated, Ms. Emerson assigned a poetic lyric assignment. Never before had I thought of lyrics as poetry. I had been involved with music from birth, and not once had I associated songs with poetry. After all, poetry was just old men and women writing stuff that doesn't make sense, not songs like Springsteen's "Jungleland" or The Killer's "Mr. Brightside." But I was wrong.

  Click Here for Frank Turner's "Recovery"

      My interest in song lyrics escalated. I began studying lyrics, finding deeper meanings. Then I developed an obsession with finding new songwriters and musicians. From this hobby I found my two favorite musicians: Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem and Frank Turner. These two musicians among others inspired me to pick up an acoustic guitar. Later, I began singing. And eventually, I began songwriting. I taught myself guitar during the summer of 2012, and now, a little over a year later, I have written some fifteen songs, five of which I actually like. I'm still no Frank Turner, but I found what I truly enjoy reading and writing: song lyrics.