Throughout my elementary years when I was a very shy and quiet person, I had only a few companions- books. Large or small, full of colorful illustrations or merely consisting of words, books occupied the space in my brain and allowed me to enter the wonderful words authors think of. This month, I am thankful for books, because they allowed me to believe in myself and inspired me to be the person I am today.

As long as I can remember, I have loved reading. My mom always told me that I probably learned to read before I learned to talk (I know this is implausible, but it still sounds great). Libraries were my favorite place to go, and I could stay there for hours, looking through all the books I wanted to.

When I was really young, I read about children finding their way home or a rabbit overcoming its fear of storms. As I got into elementary school, my interests swerved to books about fairies and princesses who helped little girls like me. Books helped me improve my vocabulary and reading skills and typically served as a happy activity for me to do after school.

Sometimes, though, books were bittersweet. More often than not, I was lonely at school, with not many people to talk to. I wished I could be more confident like my classmates. Although my family comforted me, I gathered the most solace from reading. It felt as though I could take a break and enter a different world, a world where I had magical powers and could freeze whoever I wanted, or a world where I was a quirky and outspoken girl like Junie B. Jones. After many months of reading, it occurred to me that all these main characters I loved were girls just like me, and they had started somewhere to become the people they were. Books inspired me to become the person I wanted to be, and I wanted to work on myself to embody all the traits I wished for.

Nowadays, I am much more confident. I’m not afraid to state my opinions, and I have a lot of friends. Plus, I read stories that are much different than what I used to read. Now, I’m inspired by strong and clever characters like Jude Duarte from The Cruel Prince or Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. Although my tastes have changed, some things have not. For one, I still love libraries. The silence is a nice change from everything that goes on during school and at home, and I love being alone with my thoughts (and all the bookshelves). Though I still think I have a long way to go, I won’t ever stop being inspired by books and their characters, because there is always something to learn from their actions and choices. I also largely respect book authors. They take their wild imaginations, put it onto paper, and no idea will ever be too crazy to bring to life. That itself is a very impressive thing to think about. 

For a while, I wanted to become an author. Although I don’t think this will be my primary career anymore, I never want to stop reading and writing because it has always been such a big part of my life, and I plan to keep this statement true. In a way, the books have grown up with me too. The bookshelf in my room has been static throughout my life, whether it be good or bad, and every book on there holds a memory for me.

So thank you, books. You inspired me to speak up when I was afraid. Your strong and fabulous characters set an example for who I wanted to be. I can be whoever I want to be just so long as I put my mind to it. Despite all of the changes in my life, you will always hold the same place in my heart.