Ok, But Was This Summer Even Real - Rachel Young

       I'll be honest right off the bat, I don't like summer. I know, it's an unpopular opinion, but summer has got to be my least favorite season. The blinding sun, intense heat, the sweat, it all makes my skin crawl. The bugs come out, mosquitoes are a nightmare, and I hate having to walk around outside in the t h i c k weather and just sweat.

It's gross.

Sorry, I don't make the rules. 

       However, despite the bugs, despite the crazy, humid weather, despite it always being 100+ degrees, despite the torrential downpours every other day, I actually enjoyed this summer. A lot. 

       Ok just to start off, I usually spend my summers doing one thing. Sleeping. Sure, I'll be social during the school year, sure Ill make time for my friends and hang out on the weekends. But as soon as that final bell rings in June? I'm basically a recluse. I get inside and I stay there. Peace. See y'all next fall. But this summer, this summer was different. 

        From the moment finals ended, my summer schedule was packed with activities and trips scheduled by my parents. I was dreading it. I wanted to stay home and relax. However being forced outside my bubble was the best thing that could've happened to me.

       

      I did a lot of stupid things this summer. Not stupid in a bad way, stupid in a fun way. The kind of stupid where you look back with your friends at the memories and laugh until you cant breathe or risk peeing your pants. The kind of stupid that deems those memories part of "the good ol days". 
      I started the summer in Watkins Glen, hiking through water falls and rivers. While I wanted nothing more than to spend my first weekend of summer sleeping at home, the trip helped me realize how fun traveling was.
      Next was North Carolina, the outer banks to be exact. We go on this trip every year, and it's my favorite thing about summer. I get to see my cousins and the side of my family I only get to see once every so often. This trip was special cause my sister could drive, and we could do all the things we wanted to do without having our parents tag along. We went to the beach every day, got up before sunrise to kayak out into the ocean, stayed up to 4 am watching the stars. It truly was the epitome of a teenage summer.
         Finally, we spent our last week in New Hampshire, hiking the presidential mountains. No wifi, no service, just the great outdoors. And while this posed a threat to my delicate social teenage life, it forced me to realize just what actually mattered. Without my phone and its ties to the outside world, I was able to focus on myself. To sit outside and take a breather. I know, its corny. But for once, on the car ride back to New Jersey, I actually dreaded the fact that I had to come back to the hectic mess that was my life back in Sparta.
         Through these experiences I really learned to let go. To not care about the world back home, to really let myself have fun. I usually hate summer, but summer 2k18, as cliche as it sounds, really changed me. And i can't wait to do it all again next year

One Day, One Day by Liv Przydzial

And sometimes I venture to a special place in my mind, a special place that takes me to where I want to be more than anything. 

* * * 

I'm in a Volkswagen camper van, one covered in tie-dye peace sign stickers and painted in colorful shades of the happy colors. Although the van might be blue, we were anything but that. All the windows were down and the pleasantly warm summer breeze drifted by as we wound our way around the Pacific coast. Music blared from the radio, replaying old songs from our childhoods. Everyone knew all the words, and we all laughed as we attempted to reach a high note. Everyone wore a smile on their face, and the slowly setting sun cast golden glows upon our sunkissed faces. The ocean just a hop, skip, and a jump away reflected the rainbow of colors infecting the sky. 

As we climbed our way to the beach, songs by the Beetles blared. Our hands in the air, our wrists crowded from all of the friendship bracelets from old and new friends, we danced our way down local streets. A blur of people milled up and down the boardwalk. The ocean's salty aroma wafted to us, mixing with the chatter of the people and the seemingly distant crashing of the waves. 

Perhaps the stereotype of the recklessness of teenagers was true, but maybe a part of the story was forgotten. Why didn't anyone talk about how liberating it felt to ditch the heavy burden of material things behind and live for the moment? Why didn't anyone talk about how much more meaningful each day was when you lived in and for every second of it? Why didn't anyone ever talk about life as the new, colorful, make-it-what-you-want-it entity that it was, rather than the monotonous, day-after-day blandness that society made it out to be? 

Regardless, as soon as the van rumbled to a stop, I flung open the door and essentially spilled out. My legs like that of a newborn fawn, I stretched from the long ride down here. Even the pavement was covered in sand carried here by a million people, the thought of which made me happy, because I was now a part of this too. I was already in my bathing suit, as where the rest of my friends. We would race to the end of this world and the next together, all of our steps in synch, our feet creating a dust storm behind us, each footstep resonating within the earth. The sand between my toes was so fresh, so raw. I understood what it now felt like to be in touch with nature, myself, and the people around me - all at once, and it was simply exhilarating. We plunged into the warm water, emerging with salty hair and laughs. 


It was liberating, to be swept off your feet and into the sea. The ocean was such an unimaginably huge entity of unknowns, a seemingly endless expanse of secrets that would never be fully understood. Perhaps some would find this terrifying, but I was actually rather entranced. To me, the ocean was full of contradictions. The waves crashed with vigor and anger, while all the life dependant on it hung in a gentle balance that something as simple as a minor breeze could sway out of control. As unknown and scary the depths of the water below us seemed, I felt nothing less than free, with nothing dragging me down but gravity, which didn't even feel as heavy as it normally did. 

* * * 

With our salty lips and soaked hair, we sat side by side on the beach, watching the sun rest atop the horizon. How big was this earth? What was beyond that line? Perhaps I would never know, but the beauty was not in knowing, but in speculating what wonders one could find in such a mysterious thing such as this. 

It was easy to feel satisfied. Feeling exhilarated, wild, and free, and ultimately falling asleep happy all at the same time was a challenge so simple in nature yet so unattainable and out of reach for those afraid to break the chains of the weights on their shoulders. 

As the sun dipped below the cloudless sky and the first stars unmasked themselves, my fingers strummed the ancient strings of my mother's guitar, the vibrations flowing through each of my veins and into everyone else's. We sang whatever songs came to mind and laughed when we all forgot the lyrics and came up with our own. 


* * *

Although I dream of such a mental, physical, and soul-quenching liberation, I know that the value in such a phenomenon is only understood with a background in the opposite. To be free, you need to be in bondage, an unfortunate cycle that nobody has strayed far enough from to break out of. I hope that maybe one day, maybe just one day, I'll be the one to go far enough into the darkness to find the light switch to happiness in everything I do, but for now, the most I can do is at least attempt to be happy in as much as possible, until I reach far enough into the dark to light up this world.

A Summer Full of Adventure by Gianna Gorvan

   The summer of 2018 was a short one. After just 68 days of summer, the beautiful summer sun and all the fun that came with it had vanished. Though this summer had been the shortest yet, it was also the best. Now, I know I am not the first to say that this summer was my favorite, but I truly mean it when I say that, I have never had more fun on a break. This summer was filled with countless adventures and a crazy amount of happiness.

Just a pretty sunset:)

   To say that I was busy this summer is an understatement. I do not think there was ever a day that I complained I was bored or had nothing to do. I kept myself busy with activities both alone and with my friends. Starting my summer off at a music festival with my best friend definitely set the tone for an amazing few months. I was lucky enough to convince my parents to bring me to the 2018 Governors Ball Music Festival and it was the time of my life. I heard so many of my favorite artists perform, as well as some new ones that I have developed a liking for and met so many kind people. (If you ever get the chance to go to Gov. Ball, do it!! It will be the best experience!) Not only was my summer filled with music, but also a large amount of beach days.

Governors Ball NYC. 

   Even though I encountered quite a bit of sunburn, my beach trips to Asbury Park, Toms River, and Seaside Heights were fantastic. There is something about the beach that is truly enchanting and makes you never want to leave. The smell of the ocean air, the warm sand touching your toes, the annoying seagulls flying high above you.

Asbury Park, NJ. 

   And lastly, trips to my favorite place. New York. I cannot remember a time that I did not love New York City. All of the people, all of the lights and colors, it all just seemed so unreal to me no matter how often I visited. This summer I made it a point to visit multiple times both with my family and friends. Through all of the ruckus of the city, I find peace and beauty, getting to see a whole different side of life and how things function in a different place is an astounding feeling, and I feel that this summer allowed for me to experience that more often than any other.

New York, New York. 

   As many adventures as I went on this summer, there was no easy way to say goodbye. It was difficult to juggle so much going on, from cheer practices and camp to summer work, but in the end it was all worth it. Now it is the school year and time for tests and stress, but it is the reminder of an amazing summer coming next year that keeps me motivated. Unfortunately, this summer was bound to come to an end, but if I could, I'd do it all over again.