Thanks to my mom, I've always been known as the girl who had her nose buried in a book, and I can tell you it's the best place to be. Without the safety of books, I wouldn't have been able to mature and grow into the person I am today. Being able to disappear into a land of fantasy grew to be my escape and I wouldn't have asked for it to be any other way. Even getting in trouble for staying up too late trying to finish a book, has paid off.

If I hadn't learned to love reading, I would've missed out on so many things. The magical world of wizards and Hogwarts would only be known to me as movies, and there is so much more to them. Without books, I wouldn't have learned about Eragon and the entire world of dragons he stumbled upon when he found what he thought was a stone. I wouldn't have been able to experience the journey that Bilbo Baggins went on before the movies were filmed. I don't think I would've ever known about Bag End and the secrets that it keeps. Without my mom armed with the next Nancy Drew and the promise of one chapter every night, this love wouldn't exist.

Even though I have always been a lover of books and the magical escape that they can give I didn't realize their true benefits until I got to high school. Without the strong base of books and comprehension skills I had, I wouldn't have been able to grow into the successful reader and writer I am today. I could see that many of my classmates struggled because they didn't have the same love for reading that I did. I believe those skills that I honed and sharpened in my four years of high school were the greatest help in college applications.

The benefits of being a strong reader aren't only that it helps your writing skills. Being an avid reader increases your vocabulary. It also introduces you to new cultures and things that you may not have a chance to experience otherwise. I read a book over the summer, yes it was one that was required, but it was a book nonetheless. This book was written by an Iranian American, about her experiences growing up in California. Had I never read this book, I would've never known the challenges that immigrant families have to face every day. Reading this book allowed me to gain knowledge about experiences that another had.

I've had a fantastic childhood and great entry into adulthood. For that, I have to thank my mom for instilling a firm thirst for knowledge deep inside of me. She read to me every night before I went to bed. I can definitely blame her for this urge to always read to the next chapter. I vividly remember always begging her to read more than one chapter of whatever series we were hooked on at the time. Her love for knowledge and books is a love I hope to pass on to my own children one day.

This one's for you mom, thanks for everything.