Every Ending is the Beginning of Something New
As the final night of summer lingers in the air, memories of the last 3 months nurture you to sleep. The new school year is less than a day away and with it, new challenges. The emotions are fluctuating between teenagers, ranging from mock pity that summer is taking a curtain call to exhaustion from cutting back their wake up time a couple of hours. Take a couple of minutes to appreciate what you enjoyed this summer and anticipate what will happen this school year.
This summer was one of the craziest ones yet. I've never hung out with my friends, old and many new, so much. From crazy adventures around town to chilling out in our freezing cold basement, I never cared what I was doing with them as long as we were together. Another thing I realized was that I'm a true family girl. Not long after my summer started, my grandpa passed away from lung cancer. As heartbreaking as it was for me, being together with my family to share our grief and cheer each other up made me realize how lucky I am to have the family that I do. I may not have learned how to fish or hunt from him, but I did get the deep appreciation of why spending time with your family is one of the most important things in the entire world. Spending time with the people that I love, family by blood or the family you choose, is not about the quantity, but the quality and this summer, the quality was off the charts.
I pushed myself out of my comfort zone this summer. Learning to drive was a major milestone that I accomplished (even though I could've gone without the instructor talking to us about death for 9 hours). Even though I was anxious to start it, I'm glad that I completed it. I volunteered at new children's camps this summer, working with various age groups and activities that I branched out to try. I never would have even imagined that simple traveling could impact me. Our family traveled to the west side of the state of South Dakota and did every tourist attraction that we could find. The last few weeks might have been a little more low key, but it was still nice to take a break and relax from the hectic bustle.
As my junior year of high school now approaches, I got hit by the fact that while I wasn't in school, summer was teaching me things that I can apply to school. Maybe not from a textbook, but from life such as find time to relax (even if it's on a wooden raft while you tan and drink lemonade with new friends for hours). Step out of your comfort zone (whether you join a new club or go 379 feet below ground in Jewel Cave). Go big or go home ( such as being a leader for a organization or getting a new interesting milkshake flavor you've never tried before.) The biggest one I learned was to enjoy life and have fun. Another great summer has passed, but I'm more ready than ever to take on school.
Ah, who am I kidding? I can practically smell what they're cooking for lunch and hear minor drama from the other side of the school. SUMMER PLEASE COME BACK! :)
This summer was one of the craziest ones yet. I've never hung out with my friends, old and many new, so much. From crazy adventures around town to chilling out in our freezing cold basement, I never cared what I was doing with them as long as we were together. Another thing I realized was that I'm a true family girl. Not long after my summer started, my grandpa passed away from lung cancer. As heartbreaking as it was for me, being together with my family to share our grief and cheer each other up made me realize how lucky I am to have the family that I do. I may not have learned how to fish or hunt from him, but I did get the deep appreciation of why spending time with your family is one of the most important things in the entire world. Spending time with the people that I love, family by blood or the family you choose, is not about the quantity, but the quality and this summer, the quality was off the charts.
I pushed myself out of my comfort zone this summer. Learning to drive was a major milestone that I accomplished (even though I could've gone without the instructor talking to us about death for 9 hours). Even though I was anxious to start it, I'm glad that I completed it. I volunteered at new children's camps this summer, working with various age groups and activities that I branched out to try. I never would have even imagined that simple traveling could impact me. Our family traveled to the west side of the state of South Dakota and did every tourist attraction that we could find. The last few weeks might have been a little more low key, but it was still nice to take a break and relax from the hectic bustle.
As my junior year of high school now approaches, I got hit by the fact that while I wasn't in school, summer was teaching me things that I can apply to school. Maybe not from a textbook, but from life such as find time to relax (even if it's on a wooden raft while you tan and drink lemonade with new friends for hours). Step out of your comfort zone (whether you join a new club or go 379 feet below ground in Jewel Cave). Go big or go home ( such as being a leader for a organization or getting a new interesting milkshake flavor you've never tried before.) The biggest one I learned was to enjoy life and have fun. Another great summer has passed, but I'm more ready than ever to take on school.
Ah, who am I kidding? I can practically smell what they're cooking for lunch and hear minor drama from the other side of the school. SUMMER PLEASE COME BACK! :)
Signed,
Midwestern Redhead
Sorry to hear about your grandfather. Your observations on the importance of family are very insightful. I'm glad you had many opportunities to enjoy new challenges this past summer. Congratulations on being a junior, officially an upperclassman, now!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I had a really good time "learning" a lot this summer. I'm definitely not excited for junior year. So much homework!
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