When I was 13 I moved from Peru to the United States. I couldn’t afford the things that a normal child would have. My interest in mangas peaked at a young age. My father couldn’t afford to buy me mangas In Peru because they were quite expensive. They would cost like 13 dollars which were 53 soles. 53 soles was a lot for us in Peru, because that would equal our monthly meal. Even though I was born In America I couldn’t buy my collections in both countries because both of my parents couldn’t afford them. Poverty in America is way different than in Peru because for me in America I would live in a tiny apartment where there was a lot of gang violence but, the government would support my mom to buy groceries, However, in Peru the government wouldn’t help me at all.

When I came back from Peru, I asked my mom if she could buy me at least two volumes at least for my birthday. I’m aware that I would’ve sounded manipulative but I was just a young girl that wanted to read mangas. Every time it was my birthday my family would give me money as a gift, and I would save it in a tiny cup as my ā€œSavingsā€ to buy my collection. The first time that I bought my first manga was in 2013. The first manga that Iā€™ve owned was the first volume of death note and soul eater. However, after that, I couldnā€™t continue to buy them because I didnā€™t have enough money

I stopped with my collection for a while because most volumes would cost 14-15 dollars. I continued to collect my mangas in 2019. One of my favorite mangas is Berserk, unfortunately, one of the best mangakas Kentaro Miura passed away. Due to his death, many people started buying many volumes which made a high demand and would be out of stock. Many people are waiting for chapter 364, and suspect that it might be the last volume. Unfortunately, I’ve stopped reading some of my mangas because I don’t have the time. I work and study almost every day, plus I feel tired every day. I’ll probably continue with my collection when this semester ends. From my perspective, reading mangas makes me escape from my reality. I feel like everyone uses something (games, books, or music) to escape their reality.