The year I turned seven was a year of many firsts. It was the year I graduated from kindergarten and the year I began what my friends and I called “real school.” It was the year I developed my first crush on a boy. It was the year I wrote my first story, an endearing little tale about a firetruck and my first best friend, Katie.

And it was the year I went to Walt Disney World for the first time, which opened a new world of fantasy and joy that I had not known yet. Though it sounds a bit strange for me to have become enlightened in front of Cinderella's Castle, don't give up on me just yet. There's something I left out. It wasn't in front of the iconic emblem of the Disney corporation that I “saw the light." It was while waiting in line to see my aforementioned first crush, Peter Pan.

I had been completely in love with Peter Pan since I'd seen his movie earlier in the previous year. So, you can imagine my excitement when I finally got the chance to meet him. But when I got off the ferry that took us across the Seven Seas Lagoon and went through Disney's version of airport customs, I forgot about Pan. I was in the most magical place on earth. I walked through the gates and I immediately felt like the princess the ads had said I was. My tangled mess of blonde hair became Rapunzel's long, beautiful locks. My blue outfit turned into Cinderella's ball dress, my light-up sneakers her glittery glass slippers. And I felt as light and airy as Snow White had when she was singing with her animal friends.

My imagination went on overdrive. I've always had a large one, but this was the first time I was so immersed that I forgot my surroundings.

As that first day at the parks went on, I continued feeling this way. Eventually, it came time to meet the man of my dreams. And with autograph book and pen in hand, I stepped into the front spot in line. The meeting went as any other would have gone. But this one was still different. He told me I was beautiful and hugged me.

I was so enamored with him that the rest of the day faded. That was the first time I felt special. Peter Pan made me feel like I was the only girl in the world. The rest of the trip, I went on as I had that first time I walked into the magic of Disney. However, that experience with Pan never left me. Since then, I've discovered my love of film (especially Disney), writing, and all things fantastical.

But mostly, I've opened my mind to new things that will bring me back to that feeling I got in my version of happiness, based simply on my surroundings and my ability to create worlds within my own consciousness.