The real Magic in life by Michael

The real Magic in life by Michael - July 2013 Scholarship Essay

Magic, wouldn't we all like to have the ability to put a spell on someone or to use magic to get work done easier and or faster.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling opened up a whole new world to me.  A world of "What if..." magic.  I not only looked like that skinny brown haired boy with the glasses but I felt I was just like him.  I was a loner and not very athletic and so I felt a kinship to Harry.  I wanted to go to the wizarding school of Hogwarts. I wanted to learn magic to change my circumstances. I wanted a couple best friends who were just as unsure of their future as I was, like Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.  What preteen boy doesn’t?  Over the next 10+ years I read the magical Harry Potter series and grew up like the young lad in the story. 
Growing up and assuming responsibility for ones actions or choices is a tough job that we all live through.  I often wondered if being able to do magic wouldn’t have made my life easier.  If I knew the correct spell, I could go back and redo a situation and make a better, wiser decisions.  Unfortunately, I wouldn’t have learned all the valuable lessons I did, albeit painful some of them were.  With magic, I could change some of the circumstances I encountered like taking the debilitating illness of Multiple Sclerosis out of my mother’s body and making it easier for her to do all the things I saw my friend’s mothers doing.  Fortunately, my mother reminded me that MS doesn’t define the person so changing that circumstance wouldn’t change her and the love she shares with my family and me. This was a harder lesson to learn because I didn’t want her to suffer.
During my junior year, one of the boys in my homeroom committed suicide because of bullying.  This event made me realize that kids are hard on each other even cruel and bullying is rampant in our schools today as scene on the news both locally and nationally.  As a teen, I realized friends come through sharing similar values and beliefs.  It is through participating in the same activities like church youth group, Boy Scouts of America, and numerous high school activities, that I developed some of my best and closest friends.  Having friends with similar values and beliefs make it easier to navigate the tough times of the teen years, and even to stand up for what was right, for justice, just as Harry with his friends was able to battle against Voldemort. The life lessons I learned in reading each of the Harry Potter series have helped prepare me for the realities of life I am  experiencing, without magic.