I first picked up a book as I was moving into first grade. I had gone to a Waldorf School in Denver where learning to read and write was not their most urgent focus. However, linguistics were one of my main focuses; I was determined to read.

When we moved to Salida in October of 2015, I enrolled in the Longfellow Elementary School. My first grade teacher, Ms. Smejkel, and the title one teachers for the school helped teach me how to read. Within two or three months, I was reading at my grade level despite having very little reading experience beforehand. To this day, reading is one of my favorite activities. 

In 2020, a close friend of mine, Violet Juba, and I decided to start a book club because we wanted to stay in touch with our grandmas and friends during Coronavirus. We invited another friend, along with our grandmothers and some of their friends. Our book club was officially named Girls and Grannies Book Club. For almost two years, we met monthly to discuss our chosen book. Some of the books that we read throughout those two years were Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, and Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. Along with Wishtree, one of my personal favorites was the first book we read: Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. I especially enjoyed it at the time because I could connect with the characters, and I liked the original plot. Exploring the complex world that Madeleine L’Engle had created within the book was fun and exciting.

For me, books are a great way to connect with other people. Seeing somebody I don’t know wearing a shirt or pin that references a book I’ve read is always a pleasure. My friends and I are constantly giving each other book suggestions or discussing books we’ve both read.

Reading books has inspired me to begin writing stories of my own. Writing and drawing is how I get the worlds and stories in my mind onto something a little more physical. Anything can inspire me to daydream and create characters, from songs to imagining certain experiences, to just having a conversation. My way of expressing those characters and their lives is through art and writing. For me, being able to share the characters I’ve created and their stories is a privilege. 

This year I got a scholarship to the Rocky Mountain Writers Conference and the experience was like none other. I learned so many new things about the publishing process, character development, and writing in general. One of my favorite workshops that I attended was about writing fight scenes where I learned all of a professional author’s tips for writing battle scenes. I met a ton of new people, learned more about writing, and bought a few books along the way.

For a long time, reading has been a way to escape from my worries, and give me comfort. Books have been one of the most important parts of my life and I know they will continue to be.