I turned 18 in February and have been a Tolkien fan and admirer since I was about 15. However, my first taste of Tolkien came at a very young age, probably 4 or 5, when my step-dad took out his animated version of the Hobbit. (By animated I mean a sort of comic book style, not a movie...is graphic novel the right term here?) Anyways, I was really enjoying it until Bilbo found himself in Gollum's cave. Gollum scared the bejesus out of me and we never finished the book. As I grew up, my step-dad was always telling me to read Lord of the Rings. Being a playfully saucy young thing, I didn't read it simply because he wanted me to. But for some reason or another, I eventually picked it up when I was around 15. From the first sentence I was hooked. Never had a book affected me the way that Lord of the Rings did. Here it is now, three years later and my step-dad has ordered me the special hardback editions of the Lord of the Rings from the Folio Society as my graduation present. They are pricey but they are the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I plan to pass them on to the children I may have one day as a family heirloom. I hope I can pass on the same love for reading especially reading LOTR that I have now. I also am planning on becoming an English teacher one day. It is a dream of mine to teach Tolkien in school. So many of my peers won't open a book unless it counts for a grade and even then it can be a struggle to get them to read. I hope to convey the joy of reading when I am older. But for now I will continue on my other dream of some day becoming a Tolkien scholar, finishing high school and moving on to university. Lata gatas
