personal reflection

Personally, I think I get attached way too quickly. I’m a naturally passionate person and when I find things or people or ideas or anything that piques my interests, I jump into them. When I was younger, this was especially evident in how easily and quickly I could read and consume book series. Series lent themselves to my excitement because after I finished the tales of one book, I could immediately hop to the next one. Of all the series I read, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is by far the greatest of my loves.The Percy Jackson series is a about young demigod, Percy, who goes on quests to avenge, return, and generally explore himself and the world of the gods. Along the way he meets, befriends, or conquers a variety of colorful characters. 

As a child, I admired Percy as a character because I could see myself as both him, the protagonist of a great adventure, and his friend, an ally on his quests. I grew believing that I serve a greater purpose than the relatively quiet I lived. My imagination was loud but my demeanor was not. I took solace in relating to Percy in that he also dealt with reconciling his internal fears with his heroic deeds.

I also saw myself as his right-hand man too. When I was younger, I didn't have many friends. I had maybe two people I consistently played with. Similarly, neither did Percy. He only found his place at Camp Half Blood where he made his friends with his personality and actions. Being someone who had relatively nothing but books, I longed for friends as tight as Percy's. Seeing a character going from zero to hero and becoming "popular" through validating himself was a formative experience in my childhood.

- Tina

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