Growing up I think everyone had a fandom of some kind.
Whether it was your favorite movie, television show or book series, you enjoyed every single minute of it. I was always a huge fan of Star Wars. Funny story about how I got into the series. My father grew up being a big fan of Star Trek.
Even though he was into Star Trek, he had a VHS copy of the original trilogy for Star Wars. I still remember the day he handed down to me the set of films. I recall walking into my parents' bedroom, placing the first tape into the television slot and pushing the play button.
From that moment everything changed. My eyes opened up to something new and exciting. It was special watching "Star Wars Episode Four: A New Hope" for the first time. I remember being gravitated towards iconic characters like Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2D2, C-3PO and many others.
I memorized famous lines and tried to do my best impressions of certain scenes in the movies. As a fan, I went the whole nine yards. I started collecting tons of memorabilia over the years. My Halloween costumes were on point every time the holiday rolled around. In my spare time, I'd look into the lore of the immense universe George Lucas created that made up this galaxy far, far away. Star Wars became such an important part of my life.
What I enjoy the most about Star Wars is connecting with the central themes of the story. It's something that can be passed down from generation to generation. Just like how my father passed down these stories to me, I hope to do the same if I have kids of my own one day.
At the very least I've taken the time to introduce Star Wars to my younger sister. It's so funny being on the other side of passing on the torch. Seeing how excited she got when she watched Star Wars for the very first time melted my heart. It's definitely a plus having one more person I can talk about Star Wars or watch the movies with.
In my humble opinion, I think Star Wars is the best thing ever. I understand why so many other people enjoy it since the franchise's initial release back in the 1970s. Even now in college years I enjoy re-watching the movies and television shows all the time. I'm a total geek and not afraid to show it.
My friends and family would vouch on how much I love Star Wars. I'm grateful for my father introducing me to the series. Without him I cannot be certain that I would've gotten into Star Wars. It was cool hearing the news break out about Disney acquiring Lucasfilm Ltd. and that new Star Wars content was in the works.
At first, I was hesitant with Disney's takeover of the franchise but still believed that good things were coming. The films I've enjoyed the most from Disney's cinematic team so far are "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "Solo: A Star Wars Story." I thought it was great to fill in the gaps left behind from the main storyline with these spin-off films. I'm eager to see what Disney has planned for the future of Star Wars. If there's any company in the world that has franchises reach their highest potential, it's Disney.
I'm excited for next year to hopefully visit Disney World for the first time with my family. We're all keen on experiencing the highly anticipated "Star Wars land" opening in the fall of 2019.