When I was five years old,

My aunt would read to me every night before going to sleep.

I dreamed of dragons and princesses.

I turned seven and my aunt had left the country in search for a better future,

I was heartbroken and read every night hoping it was her

As if the words inside the book will make her change her mind

Although it never happened, the words soothed me into sleep

I didn’t dream of the dragons or princesses anymore.

I dreamt of my aunt as she waved goodbye.

A year had passed since she left,

I was eight and I got my very first book from her

It was sent all the way from Spain to me

It was carefully wrapped in a yellow gift-wrap

The note inside read “continue dreaming princess”

I devoured the words inside the book in two days

I re-read the book after I was done with it

I was no longer stuck in the past stories

I had a new book to read, one that meant possibility

My passion for reading had begun at the tender age of five,

I just never realized it until I was eight.

Books were my companions in my early lonely days of moving to New York

They were my teachers when I had no idea how to say a work in English

I was fifteen and sitting in my favorite class, English

Writing had now become a favorite hobby

The more I read, the more I felt inspired to write

Writing gave me a voice when I felt voiceless

But now I no longer feel voiceless

Writing is courage and passion enveloped in words and pages

So if you ask me what job would change my life

I will respond without a doubt, writing

Because it already has changed it

But just as the books helped me to dream

I want to write books that inspire,

to help others dream

To help change the page in their life

I am a writer for my college’s newspaper,

It has been a long road of self-doubt

Of looking around and comparing

That was my biggest challenge for a long time

Now I’m 22 and writing this poem

My biggest challenge is “getting there”

Having the financial support to finish college

But I haven’t stopped dreaming

And I haven’t stopped writing

My dream is to become a writer