Stephanie Dawkins

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My name is Stephanie Dawkins. I am from a small town in SC that no one probably ever heard of; Lake City. It’s about 3 hours from Spartanburg, so as you can tell, I've traveled far to begin my journey...shaping myself to transition from an adolescent to a modest, successful young adult. I am a junior here at USC Upstate majoring in Secondary Education English. It was my intended major when I started my journey but different experiences have led me down this path. I believe that teaching is my calling and I hope to one day enlighten all of my students the same way my teachers did for me and to make a difference in their lives. Once I have accomplished this goal, I will be content with my life. 

Many will say that at some point in their lives they lost their interest for reading, for me that is not the case. As far back as I can remember, I always enjoyed reading. Maybe I haven’t reached that point in my life, but by now I think it’s too late in the game for that to happen. My mom would always scold my sister and I for spending our last little bit of money in Barnes and Nobles and to do this she still does. I guess she isn’t a reader and will never understand. I remember that day like none other, I just sat down “The Coldest Winter Ever” a novel written by the famous Sister Souljah as I had just completed it. It was a gift from my uncle, he said, “Read this and I guarantee that you will not put it down until you’ve reached the back cover” I thought he was joking, that was until I stayed up all night binge reading that book and was exhausted when my mom came to wake me up for school the next day. It was that night sitting up in my bed with my flashlight, analyzing every word and phrase that was on the page, going through the chapters effortlessly, smelling that familiar smell of books that changed my life forever. I was no longer interested in sitting in front of the TV all day or going outside to play with my friends, my newfound interest was books, tons and tons of books that I always had shoved in my face. 

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