I Believe in Stories by Stephanie Rippstein

As a child, I can vividly remember pleading with my mother, "Mommy, can you tell me a story?" My thirst for stories was often quenched with tales of two mischievous ghosts named Boo Boo and Moo Moo or of the uninvited houseguests, Slimy, Sticky, and Stinky, the monsters that always showed up with a truckload of trouble. When my grandma visited, I would make my notorious query in order to hear fables of Peter Rabbit and of camping trips/bear encounters in which my brother and I starred. As I grew, so did my hunger for stories. What joy I experienced as I began to learn how to read! Now I could unlock all of the imaginative writings unknown to me that were contained in books. Through the years as I matured, the stories I read matured with me: A-Z Mysteries in 3rd grade, The Chronicles of Narnia in 4th grade, Nancy Drew mysteries in 5th grade, The Series of Unfortunate Events in 6th grade. I was introduced to my favorite books, the Harry Potter collection, at this age. Still, with all of these fantasies, my excitement swelled. As an adolescent, I've buried myself in an assortment of genres. I pursued classics such as Dracula and Pride and Prejudice. I flipped through the pages of popular best-sellers such as the Inheritance and Twilight series. In the present, my passion for stories remains healthy.

In our culture, stories are very important. Stories can be used for educating. They are used to teach children morals. In Sunday School, we learn Bible stories that teach us about our faith. Relatives pass down stories about their experiences or of other relatives, sharing family history. And what is history? Isn't it just one long continuous story concerning the experiences, obstacles, and interactions of many people and cultures? Stories can also be used for entertainment. These come in many forms, may it be books, word of mouth, music, magazines, or radio. In our post-modern society, people have become very visual and enjoy stories in the form of movies and television. With all of these mediums, who doesn't like a good story?

What is it about a story that is so enthralling? For me, it's how the storyteller can take you out of your setting and help you see a whole new viewpoint. I love how an author can make you feel every emotion and take you to a place you have never been. When you read, hear, or watch a story, it's as if you are actually there, searching for clues, embarking on a dangerous journey, falling in love, watching a loved one die, or making a life-altering decision. When a story is finished, I feel like I'm switching realities when I come back to my present place. Then what do I do? I start a new one. I guess you could say I believe in stories.