Blog Post #1 - Reflections

When I first started reading the Harry Potter series oh so many years ago it seems like, I had no idea who kind of impact it was going to have on my life. Like many others, I grew up with Harry. I too waited for my Hogwarts letters, which to my dismay never came. Simply saying that I read the books is not enough; I immersed myself into the whole world that JK Rowling created. Growing up, I could relate to Harry because of his age, now, I can relate to Harry because of his experiences. Trying to find yourself in a new world you never knew before was an issue for Harry in the first book, as it was for me when I entered college. Even though Harry would be 10 years younger than me, I can still relate to his experiences. I don’t look at Harry as just a character in a book, I look at him as a friend who has similar experiences and I see what I can learn from him. Until recently, I couldn’t really relate to Harry’s issues with losing his parents. I knew how horrible it was and I just always thought, “Oh, that must suck, but Harry can still manage everything and is ‘normal’ in a sense. Last year, I lost one of parents to cancer. I now know some of what Harry had to deal with. When Harry looks into the Mirror of Erised, I could completely relate. Although I had read that scene dozens of times, until recently I didn’t really understand the significance of it. I think that my life experiences have even further jolted me into the world of Harry Potter. If I had never experienced death in the similar manner of Harry, I would have still enjoyed the series and been inspired by it, but with these new life experiences, I can truly appreciate Harry’s need to prove himself and his desire for friendship and acceptance at Hogwarts.