by Courtney McComas

Created on: October 27, 2008

As a junior in high school, I find that my life gets so hectic I really wonder where the time goes. After running across town to the hospital for volunteer work to racing back to my humble home to teach music students with my own schooling in between this time, life is just passing me by as I know it. Sometimes I need to relax. How, in all this madness and running around, am I expected to be myself? Maybe I need a chance to get away from it all. This opportunity often arrives right in the palms of my hand when I pick up a book. This is when I realize that suddenly, life has a pause button and I have that remote control to let that brief and wondrous moment occur in my life. All I need, through all that strain and pressure, is a book.

Now, this is my next observation: Why do people read? More importantly, why do I choose to read? After all the distractions I have in my house like video games and farm animals in my backyard to take care of why would I choose a book?

When I choose a book to read I'm not considering the fact that the text might be too small or the lights are off and I'm ruining my already terrible eyesight, I don't care that its a sunny day outside and I could be running around, I don't care about how uncomfortable I might be when sitting down, I care about what new world I am about to unlock with every unknown word on the next page because I"m the one with the key to sucess.

When I pick up a book I can feel the weight of the story, the character it already has by its smooth or rough surface, the pages with the scribbles in the corner of previous readers (if I"m lucky). Books, the stories and magic in which they bring, help me find myself somewhere else. When I'm reading a book I'm not this junior in high school running around town doing god-knows-what. I am Captain Jefferson of the S.S Yuletide making a long treacherous trip overseas to Britain in the 1890s or I could be an incredibly lucky individual to be the last dragon rider and have epic battles with my arch-nemisis, Borog. There are so many stories but there is just one me. Reading a book is like putting on a different pair of pajamas every night; the pattern is interchangeable, the design is entirely mixed up but everyone knows that its you who is inside the ridiculous pair of pajamas. The best part is that you get to have fun in your miscellaneous clothing of amazing proportions.

Reading, those words printed on paper for masses of people to enjoy, has always allowed me to read and enjoy my time. From being a high school student to a magical wizard, reading has no limits on one's thoughts. Reading can mean anything, be anything, and most importantly inspire everything. This is why I read.

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