As far back as I can remember, I have always loved Star Wars. I watched it for the first time probably when I was three years old, and one of my earliest memories is making lightsabers out of plastic building blocks in preschool. Whenever my brother and I went through our DVD (remember those?) set, the question was not if we should watch a Star Wars movie but which Star Wars movie we should watch. I loved all of the movies, even the much maligned prequels. I fell in love with the science-fiction stories of good and evil that were the Star Wars movies.

When I was a child, Star Wars was an obsession. I played Star Wars video games, read Star Wars books, and rewatched the movies over and over again. My freshman year of high school, I waited, along with some friends, in line for six hours for the seventh Star Wars movie. Like the enigmatic Force, Star Wars surrounded me and penetrated me and binded my whole galaxy together.

Star Wars was also a much needed escape. I struggled my first two years of high school. I had trouble making the adjustment from middle school, and I was frustrated with myself. Every day seemed like a struggle mentally, and it wore on me. The fantasy world of Star Wars allowed me to get away from the day-to-day mental health issues I was dealing with. If I was not happy with the reality I was living in, I could visit another one in a galaxy far, far away.

Now, I am not as much as a Star Wars fanatic as I was. As I began to deal with my issues more constructively, I needed Star Wars as less of a crutch to lean on. In other words, I grew out of it. As I became more involved in making my own movies, the luster of Star Wars began to fade. I became less fascinated with fantastical blockbusters like Star Wars and found myself interested in more thoughtful cinema, from classics to foreign films to contemporary dramas.

I am not going to turn to Star Wars to learn about filmmaking. However, I will turn to it to feel like a kid again. The reason that I fell in love with Star Wars as a kid is that I was a kid. It captured my imagination, which is why I cannot help but get excited whenever there is a new Star Wars movie coming out. Star Wars was my childhood, and it always will be.