End of Summer

Every year before summer starts, I always assume it will last forever and that I don’t have to worry about anything except my tan. I feel free with basically no worries until August rolls around, and suddenly the days start flying by, and all I can do is mourn how great summer felt. This year it was the worst yet. Most of the summer, I was distracted by traveling and being around my friends, I didn’t even give school one thought.

When August started, I was still out of town, so I didn’t realize that by the end of the month I would be back in school. As soon as I got home, all of my motivation disappeared. I had procrastinated all of my summer work, and now I had to cram it all in the short period I had. I think I literally read every single day, not because I wanted to, but because I knew this year would be hard and I had to be prepared for the worst.

I’m still mourning summer like it was my last bit of freedom ever, but I’m also one step closer to graduating high school, which is amazing. I was honestly expecting worse coming back to school. I thought I needed to have everything figured out as soon as I came back, but I was only stressing myself out. I know the year will grow more challenging in the depths of winter, and I’m trying my hardest to ignore it. When the time comes, I’ll probably regret that too.

School Background” by Words as Pictures/ CC0 1.0

College

Though I’m a Junior, thoughts about college are racing through my mind. I feel like I’m the only one stressing about it, but in reality, I want to get it over with this year so that next year I know where I want to apply. I know the places my parents and grandparents want me to go. But what about where I want to go? I wake up in the morning and immediately just start researching because of how interested I am. I’m so excited to move on to a different chapter of my life once I finish high school. I know it’s a while away, but it’s something to look forward to and work hard for during my final two years. College essays, applications, and the SAT are all so stressful, and I believe that it’s something that I should start preparing for now, so that in the future I’m more than ready to move on and start my own life as an adult.

Colleges have many options, but one thing I’m sure of, at least for now, is that I want to stay in California close to home. A lot of my friends tell me that college is your 4 years to leave and experience something new, but I couldn’t imagine anywhere else that I would even want to live. Maybe my mind will change within two years, but I know that California is my home, so even if I do end up leaving. I will 100% come back.

New School Year

Around 2 weeks ago, counting camping, school had started. The first week of school was easy, I mean, it always is leading up to prep for all school camping and eventually going out to camp. Camping itself was fun, along with the weekend following it, me and my brother went to go see LA Galaxy versus the Seattle Sounders. I’m not the biggest on soccer, but it was fun for my 9 year-old brother, so that’s all that matters.

I’d say, not a lot besides that weekend had started off this school year. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have things in the future I’m looking forward to, such as My Chemical Romance with my friend, going to see more local shows, a trip to Patagonia and a trip to Greece.. and I’m sure a lot of other things that I can’t think of right now. Nonetheless.. I have a feeling that this year’s gonna be a pretty solid year.

Junior (education year) - Wikipedia

P.C. – Google, “junior year”

Skin


It never felt hard to fake a smile, it came almost automatically to me. I never noticed when I would fake it just like how I never noticed the color of my skin. It was a color my mom would idealize as in Africa the lighter the skin the prettier you were. So with her panther-like complexion she admired me which left me happy with my identity.  As for my father he loved my mothers skin and loved me for being a combination of him and her. I never noticed my skin until I began to be treated differently for it, I would try to pinpoint what it was. I’d say things like, “maybe it was my non-European features.” Or maybe it was my curly hair. During middle school I was severely bullied, where my identity felt as if it was just my skin. When I moved away from that environment I began slowly forget the harsh comments that were made. Although the micro aggression would sometimes appear it wouldn’t affect me. Up until my trip to Switzerland where I was called the n word multiple times by multiple people, but this time it was with my friends the people I trusted the world with but yet not a single one stood up for me and so as that word was being said towards me it felt as if my entire world was crumbling. Though I forgot because we are taught to forget to move on. So a year went by I let go of one of those friendships and I moved on. Up until it was brought up again this year, I don’t know if it was something in the air or it was my body reprocessing it but it broke me. I cried, I cried and cried. And I began to feel as if I was 12 years old again, on my knees begging and praying to god asking him why he would create me like this with tears that could fill the atlantic ocean. As I woke up the first thing I noticed was not the acne on my face or the puffiness of my eyelids, it was my skin color. I felt as if it was truly the only thing people saw me for. Up until now I cannot say I have moved on. I still cry from time to time wondering why I was born this way. But I am slowly trying to forget and move on as what else am I supposed to do?

PC: Google

The Summer I Worked All The Time

This past summer I turned in my resume to over 10 businesses. I only got one call back. I knew that getting a job would be hard but I never thought that it would be near impossible. When I got the call from the manager at Skating Plus that he wanted to interview me, I was over the moon. After my interview I was sure that I would get the job. I already had 4 friends working at Skating Plus so they could put in a good word for me. The day i got the call I was in Ralph’s shopping for pickles. The moment I heard “we would like to hire you”, I jumped up and down holding my jar of pickles. Still on the phone with the manager who had just hired me I walked around the store continuing our conversation. The second the phone hung up I called my best friend and roomate Chelsea who worked at Skating Plus and told her I got the job. A week later Chelsea was the one training me for my very first shift. I picked things up quickly and soon became friends with my new coworkers. I made over $3,000 that summer from working. I would work mornings, nights and doubles. My first paycheck I went on a shopping spree, because I had earned it. I am still working at Skating Plus trying to balance running cross country, going to school, homework and spending time with my family and friends.

PC: Google