Blog 3: Love of Words, Reading, and Writing

As a child, I felt as if I existed at the margins of two cultures - American and Mexican. I belonged to both, and was excluded from both. The blessings and limitations of both cultures were equal burdens. The result was that I felt inadequate and lonely - despite having two younger sisters. The three of us are very different, and they never shared the same nerdy interests that I did. They still don't. To be honest, I don't remember the first 'novel' I read. However, I remember loving browsing through the National Geographic journals my dad sometimes bought. I loved the idea that words could provide so much information about the world; it made the world feel smaller and more accessible. Eventually I got hooked on books like the "Harry Potter" series and other sci-fi books. Looking back, it felt like my entire life was spent on an upward latter toward some unknown goal. The reading led to writing. The more information I absorbed through books, the more my mind felt full of chaos. The writing proved to be a good tool for clearing away, organizing, and navigating that chaos.