Flags and Hot Wheels

One of the most revelatory and pivotal experiences in my life where literacy is concerned took place when I was probably around seven years old. What seemed like once a week, my dad would take my brother and me into the computer room where we had a big world map on the wall. There, we would sit and read the "Flags" section of the World Book and  memorize, putting each stripe and emblem from the encyclopedia next to a shape on the map. Every week there would be a recital of the flags we were expected to know, and for every five new flags we could name, we would get a brand new Hot Wheels car. Combined with the atlases and picture books from National Geographic, our unofficial geography lessons became a color-spangled foundation that grew into a great desire to experience all the places the world has to offer. It didn't bother us in the slightest that the scheduled time meant we couldn't play outside or on the computer, because it was just plain fun. We learned we could count on that time every week to explore and get some sweet-action toys. The combination of structure and creativity became a quality I look for in most all further discourses I encounter and plays a great role in my dissatisfaction with and under-performance in a university setting.