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School Scholastic Books
When I was in elementary school the school used to have these book fairs, that had awesome books like: Pocahontas, Cinderella, etc, and had awesome science kits. These sparked my interest to see other peoples lives, even if they were only fictional. -
The Environment
Growing up, I spent most of my free time rummaging through magazines my Grandfather used to order from the National Geographic. I absolutely thought nature, and the way animals lived in the wild was the most interesting pictures and stories I had come across. -
Investigator?
During the later years of elementary, I slowed down on reading because I did not think any books were fun or worth my time reading till I came across Junie B. Jones. There was a book about her being an investigator, and I had said that is what I wanted to do when I grew up. -
The world beyond
After reading stories of the different environments of animals, my grandfather introduced me to the world of Sci-fi. We watched all types of sci-fi shows from the Twilight Zone, to the X-Files. So I found books to read at school, like a novel called Pods, about an alien take over. -
Social Change
In the start of high school, I was exposed to the Movie Freedom Writers, and then realized it was a novel, and dove deep into the social problems that affect motivation and determination to stay in school, and graduate. Plus I was exposed to the concept of the actual work teachers do behind the scenes, and the idea that maybe one day I could teach and influence people's lives in this way. -
Inner Workings of My Mind
After I graduated, I did not know what I wanted to do, or who I wanted to be, and I felt pressured to go to college, but did not know what I wanted to study. I found Be Here Now through a friend, and read the whole book in two days. It was a beautiful read that reminded me that I could be anything I wanted to be, and It sparked a journey for me to do what was in my heart. -
Changing Morals
There were brief conversations that I used to have with my Government teacher in high school about what I was interested in, and he suggested that I read into some of Plato's or Socrates work, so I spent the fall after graduation reading Plato's Republic. -
College
I virtually had an epiphany after reading Plato's Republic, I loved Philosophy, and wanted to get a degree in it. I even thought of potentially teaching it. I was in a Phil 101 class, and was introduced to the Consolation of Philosophy and the idea of getting to the truth of ones existence, and how I could share these ideals so that other could reflect on their lives as well. -
Moving out
After I left my childhood neighborhood, I really needed something familiar to help me ground into this natural transition. I remember watching the Percy Jackson movies as a kid and I loved them, but I was donated the entire series, which was never read until finally I got around to reading it. It sparked a love for mythology and fantasy entertainment. -
Supporting Myself
I realized that moving out, and wanting to teach, was great, but how was I to support myself and maintain higher than just minimal living wages? I wanted to make sure that in the future, fiances were to be nothing to worry about. Sure enough I was introduced to a book The Richest Man in Babylon. In it was great financial and money management advice, which I now follow to the T.
