The biggest obstacles that I have encountered in my ability to read and write are my learning disabilities. I went through 18 years of my life before they were identified, and they have caused me so much frustration. I had no idea why other kids could read out loud so well and I couldn't. I had no idea why it took me so long to read a few pages of a book when other kids were almost done with the chapter. I had no idea why I couldn't even sit down to write a paper when other kids were doing their essays in the span of a couple hours. I remember an instance in my AP English Literature class senior year, where we were assigned to read "The Obama Dream" for fifty minutes and write a summary and analysis on what we had read. Well, timed readings always stressed me out, and I really didn't want to get left being in the class so I tried to focus really intently. That didn't work too well; I kept getting worried and looking around the room and having thoughts that got me off track. After the reading, I wrote about what I was able to cover. As I'm sitting there begging in my head "don't call on me, don't call on me, don't call on me,  I was called on first to read the assignment. Now I wasn't just worried about what I had wrote, but also if I would be able to read it properly. My face began to tighten; I could feel the heat burning out of my skin, and the pulse of every heart beat. I thought to myself, "just don't mess up reading what I wrote  and when I was finished stumbling through my reading, the professor asked me in a rude and inconsiderate tone, "why didn't you finish writing it?  All eyes were on me, every person in the room looking down at me. I responded , "I did finish . He probed further as to how much I had read, and I answered ashamed and humiliated, "twenty-two pages." That is just one instance, in a life full of numerous other times where I have been embarrassed, ashamed, defeated, and outright frustrated due to