Skip to main content

I Submitted this short essay to Oprah for her Harry Potter show

I started reading Harry Potter when I was 11 years old, I know it was meant to be. As a child, I began to love books, and reading with a passion that not many other children my age could understand. I went to the library often, read every afternoon, and read as soon as I finished my school work. After awhile, my classmates began to tease me, and I hid my love for reading and books. During high school, I felt a little more comfortable with myself and began to read in public much more. I was still teased, but I thought to myself that if I'm getting teased about anything, it should be something that is intellectual, exciting, important to me, and fun. In high school I did find a few teachers that helped me develop my love for reading. They brought new books and authors to my attention, and helped me expand my limited view of the written word. I also met my husband during high school, and I knew he was the one for me as soon as he told me that he loved reading the Harry Potter books as well. Every year a new Harry Potter book would come out, and I would reread the previous books and then read the new one. I would read the comments posted online about the books, and comment back. Once I started college, I majored in Adolescent Education with a concentration in English, and realized that my love could be turned into something that I could do for the rest of my life. I was lucky enough to be able to discuss new literature with students, and help them appreciate books and reading like I did. For me, my future started the first day that I read Harry Potter, and realized that being different isn't necessarily bad. Like Harry Potter, being different has its ups and downs, but when you are who you are, you are free to live your life to the fullest and happiest. I owe some of my happiness to Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling, without those books I wouldn't have been brave enough to be different.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everything Happens For a Reason, I hope!

Just recently, I was turned down for the Teach For America position, that I spent long months applying and preparing for. I can't say that I wasn't disappointed to read the generic "Sorry you did not get it" letter they sent me. It was hard to see my dream of working for Teach For America, and finally being a teacher get dashed, especially with a generic letter. I really had a great feeling about the process, and left the interview feeling like I nailed it. I guess that I didn't impress like I thought I did. I broke down at first from the shock that I didn't get my dream job, and then I cried because I realized how badly I did want it, and how wrong I had been. Later that night I talked to my mom about what had happened, she knew I was upset about missing this opportunity and offered some advice. She said like so many do, "Everything happens for a reason." At first I was annoyed, because I feel that so many people use this logic as a cop-out. But, as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book # 30 and 31 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking-Glass

Over the past few days, I decided to read one of the free books that I downloaded on my nook, to really get a feel of how it is to read on it. One of my free books was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , and the second book Through the Looking-Glass. I've read the first book a few times, but I haven't read the second one yet, and I was curious to see how these books matched up against the popular Disney movies. I love these books, for the magical, imaginative, and interesting quality that they both possess. There are so many elements that are completely odd, and yet they say something about our society, how we name things, why we say certain phrases, etc. They are so quick and on spot, that I don't think children would understand them at first, but as an adult I picked up on so many of them. I've always loved the movie from Disney, but now after reading the two books, I realize that cartoon movie is a combination of the two books. Which is interesting, but I think ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book # 38 Water for Elephants

Thanks to a co-worker who lent me the book, and friends and family that told me how amazing this book was, I finally read, Water for Elephants , by Sara Gruen. I have been hearing rave reviews from friends, family, coworkers, online sites, and other blogs about this book, and I have to say that I agree whole-heartedly. This is a wonderful book about love, life, the circus, and how connected people can become with each other and animals in such a short time. It's a stunning tale of the carnival and circus people of a time long ago, and how their lives revolved around the circus, the performers, the workmen, the animals, and the crowds. I loved all the characters in this book, and it was really interesting going from the past to the present with the main character. The love between Marlena and Jacob is so wonderful, and pure that it's a great part of this book. I also love how involved and invested Jacob becomes with the animals and some people in the circus. It's a tale of...
2 comments
Read more