Using correct grammar has helped me in many ways. It is important to know the meaning of words and how to use them correctly. There are certain words that sound the same, but have different meanings. It’s important to learn the difference in order to speak and write intelligently.
Being a person that was raised in a neighborhood where most of the people spoke broken English, helped me to make the decision to be different. My parents invested in my education by sending my siblings and me to a private school. With hardly any money left over, we lived in a low income area where people communicated with slang and incomplete sentences. People were judged by the way they spoke. That had a direct effect on becoming successful and having a better living. Learning to use proper grammar helped me while I was in the training academy to become the only person in the history of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department to make all perfect scores, including the final exam. I received the academic award. It also played a part with me getting a position in the department’s Speaker’s Bureau. I credit that to learning the difference between words that commonly sound the same, but have different meanings.
There are no limits to how far a person’s goals can stretch. The difference in achieving them can simply be measured by how determined they are to speak and write correctly. Speaking properly and writing correctly should be a requirement and not a choice. That is one of the most important things I’ve learned in the Bethel program so far.
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Marcus Clark
Bethel University, Criminal Justice – Shelby County
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If you have a Bethel Success Story to share, or want to comment on a current story, please contact Cindy Chambers at chambersc@bethelu.edu. We’d love to hear how your educational journey — or those of others — have impacted your life!