For as long as I can remember, when asked what some of my hobbies were, the first thing that came to my mind was reading.

I cannot pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with reading. Could it have been the fairytales my parents read to me when I was little? Was it my frequent trips to the Free Library? Did I pick up a book to just pass the endless hours of the after school program?

First, I loved the mystery genre. I was in the 1st grade when I was leafing through one of those Scholastic catalogs. My father was next to me and randomly pointed to a collection, A-Z Mysteries by Ron Roy, and proclaimed that he was going to order it for me. I insisted that it would be a waste of money because I wouldn't read them, my mother insisted also, in her annoyed, high pitched voice, Mariooo!

Looking back at it now, I am so glad that he bought them for me.

From the moment I opened the first book in the series, I didn't stop reading. After I finished the Z mystery, I moved onto Nancy Drew, followed by the Gillian Girls by Ally Carter, then I moved into the dystopian genre, and so on. Today I still devour spy and mystery books every chance I get.

I have always been a quiet, introverted person. In school, I always listened attentively, never dared to break the rules, did not have many friends, and was always just the quiet one. When I look back at my childhood, reading has filled some gaps for me like when I lacked a friend, my book was there. When I didn't understand a pop culture reference, I dived into a novel.

Over time, I realized reading made me smarter, a more refined version of myself, and once again, filling in the gaps. A natural inclination to write and spell big words came out of my love for reading. I also came across little facts, some that I can remember to this day, that always impressed my teachers and family members. From a book that I read in the 8th grade, I learned that after brushing out your hair. It is best to let loose the dead hair left over into a surrounding tree because birds can use this to help create their nest.

Reading is my preferred escape to reality. What's yours?