In elementary school, English is hard. By the time you enter kindergarten, you think you have the English language pretty well mastered. By that momentous first day of school arrives, and you are sent off into the classroom armed with a box of freshly sharpened pencils and a shiny new lunch box. But then, you soon learn that you are doomed to spend the next 13 years of your life, sitting in a multitude of rooms with other students learning all of the rules and exceptions to the rules and spellings of every little word and detail of this lovely language we call English. And for this reason, many students never learn the joys that are books and reading. The many joys of the action are simply lost on them; to be snuffed out before they begin. But, those lucky few who persevere the years of years of take home readers, spelling tests, and vocabulary drills; are in for the adventure of a lifetime. Now, as a self-proclaimed book nerd myself, I spent most of my time during my formative years with my nose stuck in a book than any person probably should. My sister’s soccer game? Book. Recess? Book. Five minute school passing period? Book. Under the desk in math class? Hidden book.

Now for those of you who live by the mantra, "Books are for nerds, there are much better uses for my time!” you might as well just bail out here, because it’s only going to get nerdier. Go back to your Netflix binge sessions or endless scrolling on Reddit. Great. Now that we got that out of the way…

Books. Are. Awesome.

Tired of being a stressed out junior in high school, trying to decide where to study for college and define the rest of your life? Why not take a couple hour trip to District 12, and worry about the state of the capital and the fate of Panam for a while instead of your own problems? Hop a train to the dauntless compound and watch Tris and Four navigate their fear landscapes. Accompany Augustus and Hazel on a moonlit stroll down the riverside in beautiful Amsterdam.

Those who have never grown to love the written word, will never truly understand how those black and white words printed and mass produced on pages and pages of paper can truly make a person feel alive. Feel important. Feel like other people’s problems matter for a little while more than their own. Because those letters become words, and those words become sentences and those sentences paragraphs and beautiful words and people whose stories matter and deserve to be told.These people can become your best friends, take you on adventures to places you could once before only dream of; maybe even show you a little bit about yourself you never knew before. So next time the world seems a little dark, or you’re feeling scared and a little lost in your thoughts or actions, just remember that those beautiful people in those beautiful worlds exist for you to enjoy. For you to discover.

So try it. They just might surprise you.