Sophomore Year by Lily Loewen

The school year is quickly coming to an end, and I'm pretty sure everyone can agree that this year went extremely fast. For me, this was definitely the weirdest year.

Freshman year was no doubt the best year of my life. It was the first year of high school, and I couldn't wait. I finally found my friend group and had relationships that I thought would last forever. I look back to photos and videos of freshman year and I've never seen me happier. That year was hard to top, and sophomore year miserably failed.

Socially, so much has changed from when I walked into the school year. There were some people that I was so close with when I walked into school and now I barely talk to them. But as much as I did lose a few relationships, I gained a bunch that will definitely last forever. The ones that I lost really hurt me, though and definitely contributed to me having a rough year. I didn't see it freshman year, but as I matured the year I realized that some of my friendships were really toxic and not worth saving. When I got rid of the bad friendships I was really happy at first, but soon looked back to old memories and got really upset. It hurt me what the people did to me, but it was so sad to let the happy times go and I started to get really regretful. If there was one feeling I felt this year, it would be regret. There were some decisions that I made that I wish I didn't, but deep down inside knew it was the better thing to do. 

Academic wise, this school year was pretty good. I loved all my teachers and my classes. I also got pretty good grades. A lot of my classes were really fun and I had a few friends in each. 

A great aspect of sophomore year are all the sweet 16's. A lot of my grade did not have actual sweet sixteen parties, but all my friends did something nice for their birthdays. They were all so much fun, and I can't wait for mine in June. 

Sports was also amazing this year. I did volleyball and track and these seasons were great. I got the coach's award in volleyball and I also did well this year in track. 

This year for spring break was also so much fun. My family and I went to Mexico, and had a blast. We made so many memories and had so many laughs. This trip was definitely a highlight of my year, and made it so much better. 

June is almost here and I'm so excited because that is my birthday month, so close to summer, and usually the most fun time of the year. One of my best friends and I have the same birthday, so I'm so excited to celebrate with her. I also can't wait for summer. My friends and I all have so many plans such as boat days, beach days, pool days, sleepovers, and hanging out with each other all summer long. Even though this year wasn't the best, it makes me want a great summer and I'm going to make sure that this summer with outweigh anything bad that happened this year. 

Here are some pictures of this year: 

My Favorite Place On Earth By Chloe Clancy

  Our topic this month was to write about something important to us. It took me three tries to choose a topic of what to write about, and finally I decided that I would write about the island that has a special place in my heart. This summer I went to Savannah, Georgia, for four days. One of those days, we decided to visit Tybee Island, which is a small island off the coast of Georgia. After my visit, it earned the title of 'Chloe's Favorite Place On Earth,' that's how good it was. I had no idea if I would like it or not, and I knew nothing about the small city. That morning, I set foot on the sand for the first time, and I knew, I want to spend my whole life here. The water was a beautiful gray, the sand was a pale beige, and the buildings and shops around it were every color imaginable. It was my version of paradise. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore was heavenly, the cool breeze against my hot back was stellar, and the taste of the salt from the water was memorable. This place instantly put me in a great mood. Everywhere I went, I had a huge smile on my face. My mom recalls that this is one of the only places that made me genuinely happy. After swimming in the ocean for about an hour, I decided to take a walk around the city. I stopped in every shop, probably because they were air conditioned, but each shop managed to have a special place in my heart, whether it being a small little jewelry store or a high end sushi shop. There was a mural inside a cute little snack shop that I went into, that had an unforgettable quote. It read, "We were all humans until race divided us, religion separated us, politics divided us, and wealth classified us." I wish I was joking, but I literally made the boy sitting at the table in front of it move so I could take a picture. Not my proudest moment, but it was worth it. 

        So what makes Tybee different from all the other beaches that I've been to? Three things. The atmosphere, the people, and the view. Tybee is the type of place that makes you want to sing your heart out to every song that's playing. The vibes on the island are all positive and happy, and there's no possible way to be in a bad mood. I know that "Everyone's nicer in the South," is a popular stereotype, but from what I experienced, everyone fit that stereotype. Everyone greeted you with a contagious smile, and offered to help with everything humanly possible. Now the view, oh wow. It made my heart stop. You could see for miles, and it seemed like the beach and the water, and everything around you never ended, it was like a separate world. The day we went, there were no clouds, and the sky was a beautiful, vibrant blue, with just the hot sun beating down on your back. It was perfect, and if I was able to, I would've stared at the sky and sun for hours. 

Now, six months later, I'm still longing to go back. Every time I'm asked where I want to vacation next, I suggest we go back to Tybee. Sure, I've been to tons of other cities around the world that were amazing, but for some reason Tybee had a special feeling. I'd highly recommend this as a vacation spot. Even though I was only there for a day, the ocean, the town, and the breeze, all contribute to the island that I will never forget. 

The mural in the snack shop

The boardwalk to get on the beach

The beach

Compare and Contrast of Summer and Winter- By Daniel Devine

Winter is the season when days are dull and gloomy. The mood is morose and dark; the family is bored. The cold reaches to the bones and freezes and chills throughout the body. The tree branches are bare and their leaves fall in autumn. The beauty of the trees is gone. Snows, which pile on the side of the driveway or of the yard, are covered with dirt. 

 On the other hand, summer is the warmest season. It happens between spring and autumn during the months of June, July and August in the northern hemisphere. It is the period and epoch of fulfillment, bliss and beauty. Summer is the era of outdoor activities like going to beaches to sunbathe and surf. It is the time when flowers bloom and the trees look greener than before. It is the epoch of the abundant production of food, especially agricultural food. 

 The aforementioned seasons are both on extremes. Winter is the coldest; in contrast, summer is the warmest or hottest. Both seasons have an effect of laziness to people because of its extreme cold and heat, respectively. Winter possesses bad effects on plants and trees, making them stiff and bleak; while summer bestows good effects on trees and plants, allowing them to grow more and produce more fruits. Winter requires more indoor activities; on the other hand, summer requires more outside activities. These two extreme seasons have different effects on the environment and on the people. However, due to the concept of “survival of the fittest,” living things have learned to adapt every time seasons change.

 

The Time I Got Very Lost In Disney By Chloe Clancy

I'm sure you may be concerned already just by having read the title of this blog post, and I don't blame you. This was probably one of the scariest moments of my life. Now, since this month's theme is creative writing, I'm going to tell this story the way I remember it, even though my mom tells me that my memory of this is entirely wrong. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this roller coaster of a story.

So, it all starts on a hot summer day down in Orlando, Florida, and Disney World was at its peak season. Tourists, children, and life sized characters were everywhere. I, a three year old toddler who was unable to walk for long distances, was having the time of my life. It was just me, and my stuffed Pablo doll (from The Backyardigans), chilling in a shaded stroller.

Now, one thing you should know about me when I was little is that I had an obsession with fountains.  I just thought they were so cool. And Disney World is full of these ginormous, elaborate pools of fountains spewing water, in different patterns and lengths, at every corner. Every time I would see a fountain, I would get out of the stroller, waddle over to the edge of the pool, dip my hand in, gaze at the water in pure awe, and sometimes my parents would give me pennies to throw in for good luck. I never broke routine.

There was this one fountain that I caught out of the corner of my eye. The stroller had stopped moving, and that was my cue. I hopped out of the stroller with Pablo, and said to my parents that I wanted to go  look at the fountain. I did, and boy was I satisfied. To my tiny eyes the pool seemed never ending, and each ripple of water would transform my reflection in a way that seemed magical. Not to kill the mood, but my attention span as a three year old was quite short so after about a minute I was done. I walked back to the stroller, which, to my surprise, was not there. I looked all around me, and I finally came to the conclusion that my parents were gone.

This is the point where my entire body just filled with panic. My continuous shouts for "Mommy and Daddy," were of no use. They had left me. I didn't cry very much when I was a kid. However, I cried so much that I probably could have filled that fountain twice.  I was a three year old, with no parents, in the middle of Disney World, clutching a stuffed penguin, sobbing in the middle of Epcot. My weeping was suddenly interrupted by an unfamiliar man. He picked me up, and carried me over to his stall, where I remember very vividly that he was selling maracas. This man comforted me, and told me I was okay (which I obviously wasn't), and kept me by his stall for the next fifteen minutes.

I eventually ran out of tears, and the man hoisted me up onto his shoulders. The sun was getting lower in the sky, and I watched the huge crowds of people emerge from the sun in our direction. There's a moment when I can only see one head in the crowd. I wait for him to get closer, and then I realized. My dad was coming back for me. I ran over to him, and he picked my tiny body up into his comforting arms. That's pretty much the end of the story. After my dad came back, I'm pretty sure I just got back into the stroller and we continued walking.

I know, traumatizing. I don't think its something many people can say happened to them, and it's an interesting conversation starter. Seeing the look on people's faces when I tell them what happened is always fun. Now, twelve years later, my mom says she remembers wondering why the stroller felt so light all of a sudden and I was only lost for 5 minutes (sure). Thanks mom and dad.

A map of Epcot

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.

Dog Eye Surgery

Dog Eye Surgery 

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     This summer my mom and I needed to have the left eye of our 6 month old puppy, Odin. He cannot see in his left eye because someone, most likely his breeder, hit him in the head. Why they chose this is most likely due to him having a mutation that made his tail nubby meaning that,  although Odin is a purebred German Shepard, they cannot sell him. Despite this Odin is a happy and outgoing puppy but, we still need to get his eye removed to avoid further injury or infection. I have decided to document his recovery.

Day 1

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    On the day of the surgery Odin was a first shaking and very scared, but our belief is this was mainly due to the original cone he was in, so we switched him to an inflatable one. After that he was much more upbeat, though it was hard to tell because we had a long trip back home from the vet in Maryland. He drank plenty but unfortunately barely ate, luckily that is enough for him to take his pain medication.

1 Week Later

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     About a week later the swelling had gone down a lot and you could better see what Odin would look like when he was fully recovered though, it was still a bit swelled up where the eye once was. Odin still wouldn't lay on his bad side despite him usually doing so, so that he could see his surroundings. He was still mostly cheerful but was upset that he had to be separated from our other dog so that his stitches didn't rip. We mainly kept Odin the inflatable cone but when we could keep a good eye on him we took it off so that he could groom.

Ten Days Later

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     After another 3 days Odin was laying back on his bad side and acted mostly normal. Due to his missing of our other dog, Psyche, and her missing of him we let them see each other. These interactions didn't last for log but they did help with making their attitudes much closer to normal. Odin's stitches now are safe to dissolve and his fur has noticeably began to grow back. We also let Odin have the cone off without strict supervision because he was acting good with them and almost entirely ignored them.

2 Weeks Later

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   After 2 weeks Odin has entirely recovered, except for the short hair around the surgery area, and is acting entirely normal again. He now never has to wear the inflatable cone and is back up to being a mischief maker. Odin is now also able to see and play with his sister as much as he wants, granted that they aren't in the way. Something notable is that he has become a lot worse behaved since his surgery, this is probably due to the sympathy he garnered. If your dog is to have surgery like Odin, especially if they are an adorable puppy, I would recommend still being strict with their behavior to avoid this consequence.

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Normal

This summer was a fairly normal summer. I tried to do more, but it ended up being just... normal. One of those normal activities was the Muscular Dystrophy Association summer camp, which is one of the highlights of my summer.

MDA summer camp is a 5-day sleep-away summer camp, for anyone under 18 with disabilities affecting their muscles. It has many activities, just like a regular camp. It has arts and crafts, a pool, a talent show, laser tag, and many more. It's a lot of fun, and I wish it was longer.

It's one of the normal things I do in summer.

And at camp, I'm normal.

A picture of campers and counselors doing arts and crafts at MDA summer camp this year.

Everyone at camp has a disability, and everyone gets their own counselor who helps them and takes care of them. The activities are inclusive and accessible, so that everyone can take part. They had wheelchair soccer, which basically turned the chairs into bumper cars, and bazooka baseball, which was regular baseball except the ball was launched by a pressurized launcher which the camper aimed. They even made a "flying squirrel" activity, where you get launched into the air attached to a pulley system, accessible to everyone.

All of these adaptations aren't just for me. They're for everyone. At camp, I can hang out with people who are like me, and I can feel comfortable and do everything just like everyone else. I'm not special there, and that's okay.

Lots of people take being able to do things for granted. And at camp, I can too. Living with a disability is far from normal, and I'm okay with that. I've adapted to it, and I have fun with it, despite all the obstacles. I'm not saying that everyday life is a struggle. It's fine most of the time. But, every once in a while, I like to be normal, to just relax and not worry about the accessibility side of things.

My summer was a normal one, and that's okay. Normal isn't always bad.

Beginners Guide to a THIS Summer by: Mikayla Flanz

Well. We're finally back from that whole one and a half month we had off and administrators are trying to pass off as summer. Let's see what you missed...

I don't think people understand how long six hours are. Especially when they are spent sitting on uncomfortable plastic chairs, in the mid day summer sun, attempting to keep eight year old brats from drowning. Last February, I got my life guarding certification and I some what knew what I was getting myself into, but man, I was NOT paid enough for the amount of hours I wasted sitting on that god forsaken life guarding chair this summer. Personally I don't believe nine dollars an hour is the value of a child's life (even though no one drowned, I swear I'm good at my job... please hire me).

Stranded. I'm stuck in Sparta, New Jersey, alone. Sure I get people go on vacation and have summer houses, but it seems every time my friends were in town, I was on vacation, leaving me lonely the majority of summer. Overall, I'm relatively certain the best part of my summer was my college trip to Brown. Since I was little, I've always known that I would play soccer in college, and now it's beginning. Even then, a college visit for soccer should NOT be the highlight of my summer, to be honest I'm slowly becoming more and more disappointed with my standards.

Vacation in the North Carolina Outer banks, sounds great. Wrong. I'm not trying to sound like a brat, I get that I was lucky enough to go on a vacation, and I'm grateful that my parents booked the trip, but the things that went down were kind of out of both my hands and theirs... The weather, day one through five of our week long vacation, the Carolinas were hit with what is called a "tropical depression", which in a nut shell is rain. So. Much. Rain. And I could have even looked past that, but day two of our trip I got sick, and I spent the next few days of vacation sleeping, it was miserable. But I finally got better for the last few days of vacation, and the last three days were beautiful, until the last day of our trip. Somehow on the final day of vacation, I wound up in the ER. Since it was such a nice day, I thought I'd take my board and go surfing for my final day, you know, go out in a bang... So at some point in the time I was out there, I got up, then was knocked off, and landed onto the ocean floor on my head. Five hours at being in the ER later, I had a concussion. Yay.

The summer of 2018, wasn't terrible, but it also was not memorable, it was kind of just there. As much as I love not utilizing my brain cells for about a month and a half, IT WAS ONLY A MONTH AND A HALF. I'm sorry, but that's not summer, that's a glorified and more humid version of spring break, but without the Easter bunny. Yet, even then it wouldn't have been that bad, but because I made the personally choice to play high school soccer, my summer ended August 6, 2018, the beginning of heat week... I'm pretty certain I questioned a good portion of my life choices during that week that lead me to do this for a second consecutive time in my life. Anyway...

Rest In Peace

Summer 2018

June 30, 2018- September 6, 2018

(You won't be missed)






Image Citations:
Bennett, Clay. “The ‘Abstinence Only’ Lifeguard. Don't Go in the Water!” Clay Bennett's Editorial Cartoons, 2008.

A Mediocre Summer by Miranda Doller

Summer... three words to describe what I did this summer: work, swim, and more work. You could say that working over the summer is great because you get paid. Even getting paid minimum wage made me feel accomplished. I was a lifeguard over the summer at the Lake Mohawk Pool. Let me say this one very important thing: if you're going to choose lifeguarding as a job, make sure it's at a busy pool so you don't fall asleep on stand. To be honest, it wasn't the worst job ever. My friend, Mikayla, was a lifeguard there too, so if we had shifts together, it wouldn't suck as much as it did with the other guards, although we did get in trouble for playing rock, paper, scissors on stand. I made a couple friends that went to Sparta High School, other high schools or just needed a summer job to get money for college. There was a staff party one night and we played water polo for an hour or so. That was a lot of fun and I was bummed that there wasn't another one planned out. Lifeguarding is a pretty simple job, but sitting in the sun for 4-6 hours is not fun. Especially if there's less than 30 people in a 50 meter pool. This pool had nothing interesting about it. Just two diving boards and one lame water slide. That's it.
Exhibit A:

It would've been nice to work somewhere that had a tall water slide and one of those cool fountains that had water spewing out of it.

Not only did I work, but I swam too.
My summer schedule went like this:

4:45 am. Wake up
5:00 am. Leave the house for swim practice
6:00-8:00 am. Swim practice
8:00-9:00 am. driving back home from swim practice
Then either a 12:00- 6:00 shift or a 10:00-3:00 shift.
That was it for most of the summer.
On the weekends, I had swim meets that were for my club swim team, MCSC. Those were pretty stressful to say the least.
On some Wednesdays, there were swim meets for Lake Mohawk Pool that I would swim in (Go Hawks!!). On a couple occasions, I would have to lifeguard and swim in the meet. So I would get up on stand, swim, and get back up on stand.

Overall, this summer was somewhat fun. I experienced what it was like to have a job and the responsibilities that come along with that and the fun of it as well.

Summer Homework (and procrastination) by Akshat Iyer

Summer is a time in which kids of all ages get to chill out and escape the grasp of education for some free time, be it with their friends, family, or being antisocial in front of an electronic device like me. However, this doesn't mean that work doesn't exist in the summer. Starting the summer going into freshman year of high school, students who are taking honors classes have to do something over the summer, whether it be read a book, or write an essay, or both. These assignments are meant to be a big part of their grade, and are normally designed to be done throughout the summer in small chunks. However, for most people, they wait until the week before, or worse, the night before it is due. This is called procrastination. Procrastination follows us around everywhere, even outside of school. The things that don't provide you the gratification can wait until the last minute. I personally like Tim Urban's analogy that he made in his Ted Talk. In humans, we have three parts of the brain. One part of the brain, is the rational decision maker. This part of the brain is the part that actually thinks about the decisions that are needed to be made in the future. However, procrastination comes in when the "instant gratification monkey" comes into play. All he (or she, whatever you prefer) wants to do is to get instant gratification through things that don't necessarily have anything to do with what the rational part of your brain wants to do. This is where procrastination comes in. Whenever you have a deadline, the rational part of your brain wants to get something done, however, the monkey inside of your brain wants to do it's own thing. These symbols make it very easy to understand the concept of procrastination, but when do you stop procrastinating and get the job done? The job gets done when the panic monster appears. The panic monster scares the monkey away from gratifying you, and lets the rational part of your brain work instead of being gratified with more useless things. This is why procrastination is so hard to escape from. Through this, we can infer that procrastination is more likely to happen when people have many forms of easy, but useless, gratification. Video games are an example. They give you the gratification that you need, but they won't help you complete your task in any way possible. However, the truly deadly combination comes when you pair that up with something you REALLY don't want to do. This summer, our history class was assigned to read American Nations, a history of the eleven rival regions of America. The title of this book may intrigue you at first, but unless you are really into absorbing an amount of information an encyclopedia can't hold, then stay away. This book is a trap, because of the amount of facts that is put in it. It makes you want to throw this book far, far away, where nobody will ever see it (that's what my friend did to his summer reading book last year. It was quite comedic, when he casually grabbed his summer reading book and scored a 3 pointer with the garbage can). Anyways, back to procrastination. This summer reading experience for me has been plagued by the gratification monkey for the entire summer except for the last week of summer, in which I started having nightmares of not finishing it and not turning it in. However, my other friends started working on it later. School started on a Thursday, and the assignment was due on Friday. A number of my friends both started, and finished said assignment on Thursday, some pulling all-nighters to get it done.

Are teachers aware of procrastination? Yes, they are! Is summer homework going to be procrastinated on? Yes it is! Are teachers going to care? As of now, I don't think teachers care. Why do teachers assign a summer assignment, when they know that all of their students are going to start working on it a week before school starts? There might be some productive people out there (I can only name 2) but that is just a minority. Summer homework, in my honest and humble and ranting and run-on-ish opinion, shouldn't be assigned, or if it is assigned, make it manageable for the procrastinators. The gratification monkey is a part of every human being, whether you like it or not, and that will always cause the gratification monkey to win.

(Here is an art gallery down below of all of my ranting for this summer)

(Look at this book! Does it look good? No! Please, don't read this in your spare time... Do something better in your life)

(Whoop - dee - doo, another map for you. Time to die, because all things go awry, when you are reading this book)

Procrastination Haiku by Akshat Iyer

Procrastination,

You can't stop it, no one can,

(Hold on, I'll write the last line... or maybe later... or maybe a liiittle bit later. Mom, please wait, I'll finish it later! Jeez, sorry, she was on my tail.)

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.

Shortest Summer Ever by Lily Loewen

This summer might have been the shortest summer of my life. Last year was extremely stressful, and I needed a long summer to refuel and get ready for sophomore year, but I got just the opposite. Last school year ended June 30, which is normally two weeks already into summer on a normal year. When the summer started, I was so relieved as my first ever high school finals were over, and once summer started I jumped right into my vacation. I had as many sleepovers and hangouts with my friends as I could get because I knew this summer was going to be a short one, but I didn't let that stop me from having a great vacation. In July I spent most of my time with my family in Wildwood Crest where we stay at the beach. We went to the beach as much as we could, but by the end of July the weather started to get really bad with rain and wind. Even in the rain we would still have fun, though. We went fishing and crabbing, we went to the pool, and even on some bad days we would still hang out at the beach. My cousins and I also went to the boardwalk almost ever night which was so fun. But once July ended, and I was back home with my friends in Sparta, volleyball season started. We would have practices every day and a few scrimmages and even a tournament, which our team did very well in and go to the semis. Very quickly I could feel summer settling down and everyone started preparing to go back to school already. I just kept feeling it was too soon, though. I felt like we just got out of school and now we were already coming back.

Finally, the dreadful day came. All the summers before this one I was ready to get back to school, but this one was just so different. There were so many things I wanted to do this summer that I never got to. I wanted to go to the beach with my friends one day, and another time with my cousins. I wanted to go to New York with my friends, also and finally go to the sugar factory. But none of that ever happened. I just needed one more week of summer, but before I knew it I was walking back into school, where I felt like I just left. I wasn't ready for the work, assignments, tests, and quizzes. Once I walked into school, I felt like just yesterday I was taking my last final, and nothing had changed. But now as it is more into fall, I'm getting used to the weather, and school, even though it did take me awhile. Although, in the beginning of fall I was dreading it, now I'm so excited for it. I can't wait to wear jeans, sweaters, and get pumpkin spice lattes, and I love all the football games. I also can't wait for Halloween. So even though this summer went by way too fast, and it was way too short, I'm kind of happy that it is fall time.

How The End Of My Summer Was One To Remember By: Jenna Blandina

This summer was definitely way too fast for my liking, as it feels like we were just completing our final exams a week ago. As much as I really wanted summer to last for a lifetime, it was nice to come back and see all of my friends again. Being someone who loves when schedules come out, getting school supplies, and finding the perfect outfit for the first day of school, I was anxious to come back the first week in September. As the Monday went by, then Tuesday, I was not sleeping because of first day excitement. My week was going perfectly as I got the perfect outfit and had all of my notebooks organized, so I decided to top off the week with a haircut. This might have been the worst experience of my life after what happened next. 


I was all ready for my first impression of sophomore year to be great, just when I show up to school with a giant mark on my forehead. Where I got this giant wound I will tell you now. I was finished with my hair cut and my hairstylist decided to curl my hair just for fun. Now I can guess you have already figured out where this is headed (ha get it). Just as she is making the fourth curl, she by accident hits my head with the iron. At first I didn't feel a thing, so I thought it would not be a big deal, so I didn't even bring it up (this was my first mistake). As she is taking her time curling piece after piece, my head starts to itch and really hurt. This hurt wasn't like anything I have experienced before because I couldn't tell if it was all in my head, or if my head was actually hurting. Finally when she curls the last hair, I can feel the water starting to build up underneath my eyes. I keep telling myself to hold the tears in, as they are all ready streaming down my face. I quickly ran to my car and just wanted the pain to go away. The mark on my face at this moment was barely noticeable, but as the day went by, the invisible mark turned into a plumb purple burn. Wednesday rolled by, and as soon as I knew it, it was Thursday September 6th, the first day of school. I walked into school and all of my friends immediately were asking what was on my head. I told them the story, and they all felt so bad for me. Now you might be thinking, Jenna, why didn't you just put makeup on it? This is what I was thinking too, except I was not allowed to put anything on it because I could get an infection. 

Fast forwarding, here I am today with a non purple mark on my head, just slightly discolored. I am alright, except for the fact that I had to take school pictures with a burn on my head and my ideal perfect first day was ruined. Being that I had this mark on my head for picture day, when looking back in the yearbook in my years to come, I will always remember that day and the feelings associated with it. As I will remember those feelings, I will also be laughing at myself because now it's a story to tell. 

Below is the lovely picture I took of myself the day I got burned.

Camp Memory

Too many stars to remember all their names,
yet each night the sky’s still the same.
The same planes and planets like a twinkling seam just looking up there makes me want to dream.

I could stay there with friends all night
staring up at everything so bright,
feeling the night dew from each flower,
and wishing i could stay for one more hour.


But time moves too quickly there
we'd laugh away the hours without a care.
Now we're far from each other's sight.
Oh to be there one more night.
Time moves so swiftly now,
you can ask me, I don’t know how.

Things just seem to slip away but
my memories will never fade.


Something about the rolling hills
made everything around us seem so still.
But we still know that time keeps going,
all i wish was that it was slowing down.

And I still remember the way we smiled
it takes me back just for a little while.
And now everything is over
but we can run in fields of clover
dreaming about the way things used to be
in the perfect camp memory.