Wands and Potions in the Modern World by Kesley

Wands and Potions in the Modern World by Kesley - May 2017 Scholarship Essay

Nestled into the back corner of my bunkbed, sheets tucked securely over my head and a booklight clamped to the back cover of a Harry Potter book is often where my mother found me after bedtime had long been passed. My love for it far surpasses entertainment; each book, no matter how many times I found myself re-reading them, held new lessons that my young mind absorbed in an instant.
Harry taught me the most important lesson of my life- family is what you make it. His makeshift family of misfits and outcasts pushed me to create my own family instead of wallowing in a broken childhood. This push to create companionship saved me from dejected years in an already ostracizing middle school experience, and from lonely years in high school. Instead, I have been surrounded with loyalty, compassion, and love- albeit unconventional.
Books are a surprisingly easy way to spark a conversation, especially when they're as well loved as the Harry Potter series. J.K Rowling's writing remains powerful enough to draw people together, even two introverted third graders, hiding in opposite corners of the classroom. The relationship with my best friend, which I still maintain to this day, was coaxed to life because of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book that I dutifully toted back and forth from school. Any small foothold is enough to grow a relationship from an acorn to a proud oak tree, and this piece of literature was strong enough to bloom one which has already lasted nine years.
I would not possess my charisma nor my creativity without the aid of J.K Rowling's lifelike characters and silver tongue, weaving a model for me to strive towards. Though I may not be able to cast spells and brew potions, I've learned to build relationships and to trust in my own abilities, even when life becomes scary and uncertain. My family is what I make it, and I can spend my life with that family however I see fit. Through fear and anger and grief, everything will eventually work out even if it's not precisely how I pictured it. What it truly came down to as a child was the thought: "If Harry can do it, so can I".