I was 10 years old when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was first published, the same age as Harry when he speaks his first words to us muggles. Some of my friends know that I have zero interest in reading. It suits a lot of people, but I just don't have the attention span for it much of the time. When the first Harry Potter book came out, many people who were reading it knew to pass along the book to me because I have always been fascinated by all the things Harry Pott ... er has to offer, mostly the magic. Because I needed a book to read for a class, I reluctantly started reading it. Well, many of you know how the story goes from there.

Everyone finds their favorite way of “escape” in their own lives so they can avoid the pitfalls they plunge into – and we all have them. It’s a pleasant way of coping with stress, loss, and failure. Harry Potter was that escape for me whenever I needed it: mostly in high school. That period seems to have been my most potent “Harry years.” J.K. Rowling creates such a vivid world that it’s easy to get consumed by it from the first page flip. However, as I grew up alongside Harry, past high school and the “Harry years,” I started to mark the books NOT as an escape, but as just the opposite – a way of confronting. Harry exemplified qualities like compassion, loyalty, and courage – and he confronted a lot with these qualities in his arsenal. So, I used them too, especially courage. I would even go as far to say that these books are what give me my courage. I needed it for a lot of things – we all do, and not all bad things – and it helped me not to rely so much on the books anymore to escape anything I might have wanted to avoid. Still today, after all these years, there isn’t one quality I value more than courage. We tend to need it in this world now more than ever, and Harry is a gleaming example of what it means to get through despite the failure, the loss, and the heartbreak. I can honestly proclaim that this book has changed my life. Many of you already knew that, but now you know why. Thank you, cute affordable homecoming dresses J.K. Rowling , for these past 20 years.

(Oh, and attached to this post is a picture of me dressed as Zombie James Potter for Halloween. I had to be James and not Harry because I don't have green eyes.)

# HarryPotter20