Tag: friends

A World of Adventure

maydaygaskarthLeave a comment

Sometimes I contemplate whether or not after high school I should take a gap year. There’s so many things to learn by simply traveling and exploring, and I wonder if there’s too many possible adventures to simply get done in a life time. I can’t imagine them all as I’m stuck in school doing essays, endless math problems, and projects, but I hope.

As much as I picture myself being an ambitious law student in the heart of New York City, I begin to stalk the traveler pages of Instagram who share their passions to the world, and wonder how life like that would be. To take life one step at a time without a care in the world about the future. To travel freely, explore different cultures, or learn for mere enjoyment rather than cramming in information for a final exam.

I’ve had the privilege to travel before. From galloping horses through Ireland’s terrain to swimming with stingrays in the Cayman Islands, highlights of my life have always included traveling. But if I’m honest with myself, I probably won’t become one of those people who are in a new country every week, and that’s okay, but there are two things I know I want to do before I die.

  1. Backpacking through Europe. This has always been on the top of my bucket list. I just want to go with a group of friends traveling city to city via train, bike ride through Amsterdam, go to the art museums in France, or swim in the oceans of Greece. There’s so many opportunities in Europe that there wouldn’t need to be a full agenda to make the trip enjoyable.
Photo Credit: weheartit.com

2. A horseback riding safari through Africa. I didn’t even know this was a thing until a couple months ago, but it’s been on my mind ever since. I’ve always wanted to go on an African safari, but being able to do it on horseback would make it ten times better. Just picturing galloping through the Savannas near the zebras and the antelope under the bright sun, it seems to surreal to be true, but it is.

These are just two things out of a dozen. The world is so big that exploring every inch of it in such a short time seems impossible. But I want to make sure that I discover as much of it as I can.

The Ups and Downs

mariethearistocatLeave a comment

Life is like a roller coaster. Filled with ups and downs, twists and turns, and abrupt starts and stops.

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Photo Credit: http://www.getlinkyoutube.com

Your future is like the tedious clicking of your cart on the incline. Each time you move a little forward, the safety kicks in to make sure you don’t fly back.  Those have been put there so you can only move forward. Time is what moves you along, what makes you get on with your life.

Once you reach the top, another goal is met. You are on the brink of a new adventure, a new path in life. You are relieved you made it, but are anticipating something new; whether it be a drop, jolt, or loop. Anxiety fills you as you are thrown into the unexpected.

Well, it turns out it was a drop. Not just any drop, either. Full 80 degree, head-first sensation that is heading straight for the ground. Hardships don’t slowly make their way into your life. They burst in and blind you. They take you by surprise and totally change your perspective.

Your cart continues the course of the ride and then it’s over. You can get off the ride and move on to the next thing. Some people say rollercoasters are just one thing, so they only stimulate one thing, one life. However, rollercoasters are almost the opposite. They’re one moment. When you go to a theme park, you don’t just go on one ride. You wait in line after line, just waiting for something new.

The one thing all the quotes relating life to rollercoasters forget to mention is others. You aren’t in that cart alone. You are sitting next to your best friend, your sibling, or a stranger, but you are never completely alone. These people are experiencing the same moment; they drop when you do and they soar just the same.

Life is a series of moments, a series of rides. Life isn’t just one big moment, but a mixture of many. However, the people around you and the way you deal with the big drops and loops can surely affect your ride.

Happiness

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Happiness.

You are defined by what makes you happy

But what happens if you aren’t happy?

What happens when the things around you seem to become dark and grey?

What about when your life gets flipped upside down and all of a sudden the things that used to make you happy remind you of everything you have lost.

You look around and suddenly the people who used to be there for you everyday, the ones you couldn’t go a day without talking to, disappear without a trace.

Everything that made you, you is gone in a flash

The hikes that used to love to take now feel like every breath is a burden

The bike with a wicker basket that you used to ride around your block, which was once filled with amazing memories, sits in the back of your garage rusting away.

When everything that made you happy now makes you feel dejected and hurt

What happens then?

credit: deviantart.net

Happy

beetlejusLeave a comment

What I fail to do in my day-to-day life is take things less seriously.

I always think about the future and whether the guy I have a crush on will ever reciprocate my feelings or whether I’ll ever amount to anything.

These things—these vague dreams and thoughts of mine cause my stomach to churn and my eyes to fill with tears.

I want to live life for now, not waste my thoughts on the future. For who knows whether I’ll even be alive for the moments I dream about.

When I was younger I would see people in commercials, with their perfect BMI and perfectly white teeth, and I couldn’t help but think, why not me?

Why am I not happy or perfect everyday of the year? Why am I not constantly dressed in designer knock offs from Macy’s?

The truth is, these people are just actors who are paid to be happy, and they’re probably not paid too much either. I mean it’s a JC Penney commercial. 

If you were happy everyday of your life you wouldn’t be a person, you’d be a game show host. 

I try to live my life with as much hope as possible.

While on the outside I seem like this moody teenager who thrives off sarcasm and the misfortune of others, I really do care.

 I love to laugh and I love to make people laugh.  I love sunshine and 80’s power ballads. I love animals and strong coffee. I love my family and friends. 

I want to live my life happy.   I don’t care if I’m never rich or famous or the star of a TJ Maxx commercial, I just want to be the happiest person I can be. 

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credit to tumblr

The Faults of Living (at school)

lanative1Leave a comment
When I was younger, I thought that teachers lived at school.   I imagined them sleeping in the classrooms, pulling out the mats we used for nap time and creating comfortable beds.  I thought it sounded really fun and cool to live at school.  Now that I actually do live at my school, I have a better understanding of what it means and what you give up.
At OVS, there is a clear divide between the day students and the resident students. This is because the day students have time to see each other outside of school every day without the resident students.  Similarly, the resident students have a lot of time every day without the day students.  This has created a noticeable rift between the student body.  When you live at school, it’s harder to put aside free time for your friends.  With a schedule that maps out almost every minute of the day, it is a lot more difficult for residents than day students.
There are a lot of day students that I really like and want to get to know better.  However, as much as I wish I could change it, watching them drive away as I am confined up on the hill is pretty much standard procedure.

Summer Lovin’

raining17Leave a comment

As the school year comes to a close, anticipation for summer is high. Seniors have decided which college they plan to attend, and others are simply excited for the year to end and summer to begin.

Photo Credit: school.familyeducation.com

For boarders, this can come with mixed emotions. Of course we are excited for the year to end and what the summer will bring. However, as much as we love home, a part of our life is at school.

Day students live in the area, so while they can see friends at school, they also live right by them. Boarders, on the other hand, do not.

I have friends at home that I am excited to see, but I have close friends at school too, and the fact that I won’t get to see any of them for three months is sad!

Basically, I’m excited for the school year to be over since it means school will be done and I get to go home, but leaving my friends is going to be difficult.

Boarding School vs. Reality

raining17Leave a comment

Living at boarding school makes for an odd double standard, specifically in the sense of relationships – any type. If a boarder and a day student are friends, the boarder can go to the day students house and get to know their lifestyle.

Over this weekend, or whenever the visit takes place, the boarder explores the day student’s house, and gets to know their family and friends. It’s just odd how this can’t be reciprocated.

Because of the boarding school situation, social events are so different from a standard day school, where people can go over to each other’s houses whenever they please. With a boarding school, it’s so one-sided. The boarding student may become close and acquainted with the day student’s lifestyle, yet there is still a whole part of the boarder’s life that the day student will never know. They will never visit the boarder’s house, or get to know their family or friends.

This unavoidable situation creates a barrier between life at boarding school and reality, and causes day students to never know the boarding student’s true way of life.

Photo Credit: upload.wikimedia.org

 

How Old?

raining17Leave a comment

Nowadays, age means nothing. Due to the school system, children standardly grow up with friends either in the same grade, or one grade higher or lower. If one’s sibling is a few years apart, they might socialize with their sibling’s friends, but that’s the extent of it.

Photo Credit: th05.deviantart.net

Married couples are often multiple years apart, but at that age it’s not considered odd. At a younger age, however, it would be weird if people were to date even three years up. The age gap of friendships/relationships is a double standard, and it’s simply weird to reflect on how that evolves with age.

More controversially, milestones that come with age seem to be happening at younger and younger ages. Only a few years after reaching double digits, children are drinking and doing drugs. Maturing at such a young age leaves nothing for these adolescents to do at later points in their lives. This premature maturing is detrimental to the children, and it messes with cultural norms.

Tiny Wins

kennyrooLeave a comment

“The more your praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey

Yes, I just quoted Oprah.

But maybe, just maybe she has the right idea about this topic.

I like to call these daily praises and celebrations “tiny wins.”

These tiny wins can really be anything, but I think it is ever so important that we at least acknowledge them.

It could be, as big as passing your license test the first time, or as small as learning all the lyrics to that new song you love. But these happy moments in life must not be wasted.

Everyday may not be great, but there is something great in everyday.

I know it is so easy to talk about all the annoyances in your life – but when we’re old and grey are all of these minuscule inconveniences going to matter?

Looking back on my life on want to celebrate my tiny, and huge wins with an enormous grin on my face.

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Photo Credit to: http://deliveringhappiness.com/

We live in a generation where so much is shared; so let’s start sharing our wins instead of our losses.

Weekends

raining17Leave a comment

Although I chose to go to a boarding school, it’s still nice to get away on the weekends. I’m friends with day students, as well as dormers who live relatively close by, and on some weekends I get invited over to their houses.

Because weekends here are more confined than a standard weekend at home, it’s nice to get off campus and spend some time in the real world. Sometimes a few days packed with fun, and sometimes a few days spent relaxing, these weekends are much-needed, and very rejuvenating.

Living far away, it’s not possible for me to go home on the weekends. I miss all my friends, and aspects of where I live. In spite of not being able to experience home regularly, I have other places to make up for it. Having friends whose houses I am able to go to provides a homey environment, which is comforting.

Photo Credit: wikipedia.org

When so much time is spent in an environment so different from what I’m used to, it’s calming to enjoy a few days in a real house. All in all, weekends are a time to rest after a packed week, and, if possible, it’s nice to vary what happens.