Assignment 4- Clifton Grady

     Why? This word may be one that has populated my vocabulary more than any other. I have been told that even from a young age, I have always been inquisitive. As an analytical thinker, this is only natural. I am always wanting to know how things work, why certain things are the way they are. One time, though, sticks out in particular in my mind, as it was the first time I ever recall someone pushing back and challenging my inquisition. In Kindergarten when we were studying English, we began discussing vowels. One day, my teacher said something that shocked me. “You will never see a word with more than three vowels in a row,” she said. I quickly raked my brain to try and find an example, I knew this couldn’t be true. “But how could my teacher be wrong,” I asked myself. Upon being able to recall the word “beautiful,” I vigorously lunged my hand into the air. I was called on, and I asked her “What about the word beautiful? That has three vowels in a row. Why did you lie to us?” She looked stunned. She snappily replied “Just because I said you won’t come across them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. They are just more advanced than the words we will be spelling in the classroom. You don’t have to ask so many questions.” I remember this vividly; it astonished me. How could this be? Was I wrong for asking a question? Wasn’t school supposed to be about learning? I pondered these things and that night I returned to the ever-present question, why? The answer now seems obvious, but to a Kindergartener eager to learn and full of questions, it was a tough pill to swallow- sometimes it’s just best to keep your mouth shut.