In reflecting on the events of my life that have impacted me, I returned to the night of August 1, 2006. I found myself in a hall in New York City sitting by my mother, not at all tired, although we had flown the day before, and driven five hours to the city for "An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp," a charity event with readings by three authors. The excitement rushing through me kept me awake and thinking; I was standing and applauding a woman as she prepared to read. The Harry Potter series was my gateway to my academic adolescence. I was so fascinated by the magic world that my mother began taking me to academic conferences focused on the books. Since 2005, I have attended presentations about the Latin origin of terms and spells, the ancient tales, and the idea of magic. These books opened my eyes to the whole world, and to knowledge itself. They kept my brain working over the summers. More importantly, they helped me adopt the ideas useful in school and beyond, that there is always another way to do something, or to understand an issue. With uncertainty and doubt come creative ideas and new ways to look at problems that may result in new, different, faster and easier solutions. And all this came from a little "magic" from a book that many people see as a series for children. I also attended lectures about Ms. Rowling's ability to beautifully write the story, with every small detail connected to something else, for example, details in books by Jonathan Swift to Chaucer to Dickens and Austin. I learned that like all great books, Rowling's stories encouraged a connection across mind, body, and soul. Although the series has been criticized by those who believe it encourages bad behavior in children, I was able to hear discussions by those who claimed that these books teach wonderful messages if one gets its deeper meaning. It is my generation's shared text; all college freshmen are familiar with the stories, and that gives us a set of common beliefs and ideas that help us start to learn new things. The Harry Potter books led the author to   _  .
getting jobs in summers studying harder in school writing books for children viewing things in new ways