The bedroom with two twin size beds, in an L shaped formation, was my security blanket. The stuffed animals were aligned on a white shelf, and Barbie dolls were shoved in a toy chest by the closet. The drawers were decorated in Lisa Frank or Disney stickers; a Rugrats clock on the wall never worked, or perhaps I just didn’t know how to tell time yet. The front door had a taped Looney Toons measuring chart that stopped at five feet. The smell of the sweet and spicy childlike perfume my mom would put on me every morning lingered in the room.

The nights were the best part of the day in that room. My older sister, who was my roommate, would always try to sneak into my bed at night right after our dad had finished reading us a bedtime story and helping us recite our nightly prayers. We would just hide under my blankets and giggle, thinking our parents wouldn’t find out until the giggles became hysterical laughers. Then they’d come into the room scolding us to go to sleep, which we did and I would  remember dreaming of magical princesses and fairytales.

As years passed, my sister and I grew older, yet still shared that same room. The beds were side by side now, a television was set on top of the dresser with scratched out stickers, makeup and styling hair products took the place of Barbies. I grew a love for both reading and journal entries in my bed and my sister grew into dancing around the room with tap shoes. Despite the changes, it was still my security blanket. My sister would still sneak into my bed and our giggles and conversations grew louder and longer. When our parents would find out, the scolding returned but now with a chuckle. My dreams were still magical however, they were no longer about princesses going to the ball, they were now about my goals in life, such as what I want my career to be and how can I affect the world differently.

When I was fifteen I developed the love of poetry and reading from seeing my own American Literature teacher expressing herself through it. I discovered being an English teacher is what I want to pursue. Everyday after this discovery, I would come home to my room and imagine how I would make my classroom a safe space to dream in so my future students could have the same feeling I feel when I’m in my bedroom.