Tag: Santa Monica

Break

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

You know that feeling when you’ve been going strong, getting everything done in time, and doing a bang-up job of it, and then all of a sudden, BAM, you’re sick, exhausted, run down, and ready for a break?

Yeah, well that happened to me about two days ago.

I’ve been doing pretty well in school, and I’ve actually been ahead of my work for once, which never happens. But all of a sudden I got really run down, and now I can not wait for break. Thankfully, there’s only one more day.

And even more exciting, I’m not going home to Aspen, Colorado, but to Santa Monica, which let me tell you, is a heck of a lot warmer right now. My plans for break aren’t anything crazy, but my dad is driving out with my dog, who is a total sweetheart and who I can’t wait to see.

I can’t wait to see my dad either of course.

I plan on relaxing as much as I can, and eating a ton of food. And then the week after break, I’m going on the Honors Ski Trip. The ski trip is led by the headmaster, and we spend a week in Yosemite cross-country skiing and hiking. It’s a blast, and turns my one week vacation into two. By the time I’m back in school, I’ll be ready to kick my schoolwork’s butt for the next five weeks, before I break down again right before spring break.

Rinse and repeat.

My Brothers

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

One of the downsides of the schedule we have at OVS is that our spring break falls about two weeks after everyone else has their spring break, and that includes my brothers. This past week, they road tripped from Aspen out to where we used to live near San Francisco. They spent the week staying up there in a friends pool house, and then on Friday they came down to visit me at school.

They showed up around 10, just as morning announcements was starting. After announcements, I was able to catch up with them briefly before having to head off to class. My dad and Peter drove to Ventura to hang out while I finished my classes, while my youngest brother Philip joined me.

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Ocean

displacedlocalLeave a comment

The ocean has been a constant throughout my childhood. I have lived in Los Angeles, and right now my family is living in Oxnard. Having the ocean a stone’s throw away has given me comfort and is a constant reminder that i am a single person in a sea of people.

At my previous school the ocean was visible from all of my classes. Here at OVS, while the view is fantastic, it is missing the pacific ocean view that I have had my entire life.

The sound of the waves has been a constant in my life and without it I feel as though something is missing.

Something about the water makes me feel like I am safe and at home. It might be the fact that the places I have always called home have been less than a mile away from the Pacific.

The constant crashing of waves was a natural metronome for my tennis playing and it felt as though the beating of my heart was in sync with the crash and the wind moving the sand.

The ocean has calmed me and has provided me with a rhythm that still beats in me today.

When I Grow Up, I…

yrreskrapLeave a comment

Life is an expensive sports car on the Autobahn. We are often caught up in the thrill of living, that adrenaline pumping feeling of exhilaration, that we often forget where we are going, or why we are where we are in the first place. Everything is just a blur. Colors, sounds, people all mesh into one, giant miasma of lights and din.

For these reasons, people sometimes forget what their aspirations are in life or where they want to be in 10-15 years. But sometimes people don’t spend enough time figuring out what they want. Sometimes people don’t know what they want and are stumbling along, playing life by ear.

I know what I want. Or at least I think I do.

When I grow up, I want to be an anesthesiologist at a well known hospital, helping save countless lives of people that won’t remember my name in a month and whose faces I will forget in a few days. I want to have a Cal Tech diploma under my name and have graduated with stellar grades.

When I grow up, I want to own a house in Northern California (preferably near San Francisco), up where the air is crisp with the hint of ocean air or in a clean beach in Southern California (so that would mean Santa Monica is out of the picture). My dream house would either be inspired by contemporary, sleek modern designs or by warm Spanish decor. The house would be complete with a beautiful kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom, and a roomy walk-in closet. The floors would be bamboo for environmentally friendly reasons and the view would have to include the beautiful ocean. The house must be big enough for 4 people but most importantly, it must be away from the noise of the city for privacy but close enough to a city for convenience.Read More »