As I entered a bookstore in a mall, a sudden dread overcame me. I realized that with entering my twenties a couple of weeks ago that I felt as though I didn't have a right to be in the Young Adult Fiction section.

You may be thinking, well, why are you in that section in the first place? There are multiple reasons, and these are reasons I stand by and feel that continues my love and growth of entering these fictional worlds.

At around 12, I began the journey of being a bibliophile. I was mostly attracted to young adult fiction because half of the material I read was something that I felt as though I could relate to (even though the majority were white characters) and/or events that I wished took place in my life. I was able to leave the comfort of my room without physically leaving, only spiritually leaving.

Reading has become a part of my life and something that I do not regret picking up. Only something that I wish I got better at doing with the lack of time I feel like I have while in college. It makes me stressed at times that I haven't picked up a book in awhile because that's how much the activity means to me.

So while going into my favorite section of the bookstore, I felt as if I didn't belong anymore. I was at the age of where I felt as though I needed to be more involved with books that were around my age if not, a few ages older than myself. Reading books that weren't about typical rom-com drama, but books that were either on the side of historical fiction, adult fiction, or biography.

This feeling of sadness took over for a short amount of time until I realized yet again how these people that write these books are in their mid-twenties, early thirties and so forth. I didn't have to restrict myself, because I was reading the works of those who have had these ideas in their mind at an older age and still continue to write about teenage lives.

I'd like to think that it's a nostalgic feeling of why most of these authors or readers that are older still find themselves loving the young adult world, but with the rise of discussing important topics in these books, it has also become an informative outlet for everyone, regardless of age.

While college work and social life have become a struggle of balance, this always adds into the equation of personal life. Books are a part of my life and have helped me to learn in more ways than perhaps most other things have taught me. I'm continuing to branch out of the young adult genre, of course, but I'm slowly becoming comfortable with the idea of still reading books in that genre and not restricting myself to what I love doing.

Books have the ability to throw you into a completely new world of exploring and discovering who you are as a person. The fact that I can still talk to my friends around my age who still read the same types of books that I do makes the situation even better of talking about books we are passionate about.

No matter what age a person is, books should be a tool we use to educate ourselves in what has happened and what could happen. It allows us to not restrict ourselves to the endless possibilities, and even with whatever genre a person chooses, or whatever age they are, it shouldn't stop you to take in the numerous amount of stories that one has yet to discover.