Prologue

I come from Leuven, Belgium. For 11 years I had not grasped around the fact that the world was bigger than the little area I grew up in. At last, that changed when I heard the news we were moving to Switzerland, where I spend another 7 years. Soccer and art were always my two strengths in life, I couldn't do one or the other. I have always done both at a decent level, wherever I went or whatever language I spoke. However, I believe my reading and writing skill never really transferred fully into the English language.

I had always been very good at reading from a young age in the Flemish language, my mother tongue. The reason for my lack of reading skills would be the change to a new language, life became more time consuming and honestly, I became lazier with things that are not on my mental priority list.

However, I enjoy reading books that have films to go along with them as they function as a visual guide to me, prior and after reading the book. It is also hard for me to find books or readings that I can find myself stuck in. A not-so-long list of books I have read in my free time would contain Percy Jackson, Ranger's Apprentice book series (in Flemish), and books based on the Roman empire.

I have also recently discovered the helpfulness of audiobooks. For class-assigned books, that I might not particularly like as much, it is easier to not get distracted by other thoughts. It also helps me with the older, or 'accented' English? To hear it the correct way and pacing, and not hold between reading words trying to figure out what it is supposed to convey.

I grew up in Belgium as a Christian, as most young children are put into Christianity classes from a young age. However, I, along with many, split from that belief. I do believe in some sort of spirit or life force that looks over us and that everything happens for a reason.