I've read many books throughout my life, in many different genres. I've read stories full of magic, with mystical elves and mischievous fairies; stories drenched in tragedy, telling the tales of too-late lovers in the fifteen hundreds; and I've even read stories dripping with evil, the chronicles of murderers and vengeful spirits. The stories that I have always liked and wanted to read the most, however, are the realistic ones. I frequently pour through books about mundane people living their mundane lives, doing mundane things. Something about the simplicity and normalcy of realistic stories has always enchanted me and drawn me in. One realistic and mundane book in particular that I loved and inspired me and my goals was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Mr. Stephen Chbosky. Through Mr. Chbosky's powerful prose, I learned many lessons. But the most impactful one was the importance of youth having kind and caring mentors, and adults being kind and caring mentors. Through the character of Mr. Bill Anderson, a high school English teacher, the author gives the main character, Charlie, a safe adult to look up to and trust through all of his outward struggles and inner turmoil. Mr. Anderson's kindness and love for literature inspired me to want to become a person like him, bettering the lives of the youth through support and advice, and teaching them about the importance of both literacy and the English language. I want to become a librarian who can help inspire children and young adults to follow their dreams, similar to how Mr. Anderson inspired and supported Charlie. I can vividly imagine myself among the shelves of a library, helping people find whatever information or stories they are looking for, and maybe even something that they didn't even know they needed. I am someone who believes strongly in the power of literacy, and I want to work to better the lives of local youth through stories and advice. I believe that reading can be an escape, but it can also be an inspiration, and this is something that I want to impress on both my community and the world. Overall, my ultimate goal in life is to become a librarian who is active in my community, and actively makes a difference in the lives of local youth, just as Mr. Anderson did for Charlie in Mr. Stephen Chobosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

The dream version of my future self is a confident librarian.