By Charleye Browning-Perry, 2023–2024 English Literacy Tutor
I was really hard on myself in school as a kid. My confidence was destroyed by bad grades, homework took hours, and I stressed if a test or quiz was on the agenda. My mom said my attitude was the reason things were so hard for me.
“It’s about how you react,” she said.
I’d get confused about math and then cry. Giving up seemed like the best option. My mother tried to help me with my homework, but I’d repeat to myself over and over, “I can’t do it. It’s too hard. I’m so stupid.”
Now that I’m older, I am more conscious of my attitude; I am aware of how I talk to myself and how I react in certain situations. I am still figuring it out, but luckily, I made a friend to help me with this—Damien, whom I had the pleasure of tutoring last year when he was in first grade.
“I want to read like my sister!” Damien told me this probably twice a day. He was so excited when we transitioned from phonics and decoding to practicing reading fluency because he was eager to improve his reading skills.
It soon became clear that Damien and I had a lot in common. One day when he started reading a new story, he stuttered on a word in the first sentence. I immediately noticed how the light in his eyes dimmed and his shoulders sank.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I messed up. I’ll never be good,” Damien sighed.
That one meager mistake caused a major shift in his attitude. It showed me he needed lots of motivation and praise. This inspired me to start daily affirmations with him.
Before we read, we took a few deep breaths and gave each other two thumbs up. Then I would point to myself and exclaim, “I am awesome!” Damien always giggled at this, but he never failed to repeat after me. These daily affirmations really boosted his confidence and taught Damien to talk to himself in a positive way. When I would pick him up for tutoring, he was always teeming with joy because he really enjoyed reading and was dedicated to improving.
I’ve realized that my mother was right—but I can’t tell her that. I told Damien what my mom always told me, “It’s up to you to choose how you react, and your attitude will affect your outcomes.”
It can be very difficult to shift your attitude, but if you have a positive mindset and are willing, you can do anything you set your mind to. Damien is a perfect example of this. He came to his tutoring sessions with a good attitude and did his best, which I believe led to his success in the Literacy First program.
Right before the end of the year, Damien was diagnosed with dyslexia. Given this news, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep working with him; Literacy First tutors don’t often serve students who work with specialists. However, since Damien had shown such great progress in our program, I was able to continue working with him for the rest of the year.
Although he had difficulty reading, Damien remained his joyful and confident self. During my year with Literacy First, I taught children every day, and they taught me as well. Damien taught me to always smile, talk nicely to myself, and never give up.
Charleye Browning-Perry was an AmeriCorps member who served as an English Literacy Tutor with Literacy First during the 2023–2024 school year. Before joining Literacy First, she worked as a nanny and pre-K teacher and spent time working for a nonprofit thrift and antique shop. She became a tutor because of her passion to serve others and her love and empathy for children. Charleye is an aspiring humanitarian and philanthropist, eager to travel to Europe next and au pair for families in need of support. In her free time, Charleye enjoys going to concerts, connecting with nature, and writing.