“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body”-Joseph Addison. It is through the process of reading and writing that I am able to discover new things about myself. What I love, who I want to be, and things about my world that I would like to undo. The process of writing allows me to be creative and say things that a verbal conversation simply cannot express. The process of reading allowed me to dive into a new world. Throughout my life, I have had many encounters with reading and writing and each one has taught me something new. There are four specific times in my life that I would like to hi-light: Before School, Elementary School, Middle School, and High School. The time spent before school had a significant effect in shaping my interests and aspirations. Before I entered school, both of my parents worked full-time, so I spent a lot of time with my grandma. On a side note, my grandma is my hero. She is the most selfless, Jesus-loving, and caring person I know, and I strive to be similar to her one day. While she cannot say it, I am her favorite grandchild, I always have been, and I think it has a little bit to do with the time we spent together when I was young. Every Tuesday and Thursday, I eagerly looked out the big window at my home and waited for my grandma to pull up. I did this in anticipation of where we were going. THE ZOO! I was a science nerd and still am, so the zoo was my paradise. My grandma would pick me up and take me to the zoo, which is where I