Increased attention is being given to the attitudes exhibited by preservice teachers enrolled in secondary-level content area literacy courses, who frequently resist the idea of teaching reading to their future students. To develop a greater understanding of such perspectives, the author analyzed literacy narratives written by undergraduate students enrolled in five sections of secondary-level content area literacy courses. The findings suggest that preservice teachers' past literacy experiences must be addressed before they can acclimate to learning methods designed to support the needs of struggling readers in content area instruction.