In this podcast, I will be summarizing a short story named “First Day”, which was written by Edward P. Jones. This story is about a girl that was about to start her first day at school. In the morning, her mother even spent an hour doing the narrator’s hair. The narrator tells us why she sees her mother as strict. Her mother took her to a school to register. Unfortunately, the school says that the narrator lives outside of the zone that the school would service. They then, suggested a school near their home. Her mother was quite angry but took her to the other school anyway. When they had to provide documents, her mother pulls out a lot of papers to give to the school. Though, when her mother had to fill out some information, her mother asked a staff for help. She explained how she couldn’t read or write. At that moment, the narrator finally saw the vulnerable side to her mother. The mother that sacrificed her pride just so that her daughter could get a good education.  The line “I don’t know how to read or write, and I’m askin’ you to help me” infers that the mother did not get basic education when she was younger. Which then infers the reason why she wants her daughter to have a good education.