Oh no! The horror! I am struck with the realization that I am back in school. I have returned to my regular schedule of work and sleep.  Ugh. The heavenly glory of sleeping in until 3:00 in the afternoon is gone. Then, one of my friends comes up to me and asks about what I did during my vacation. Hmm… that’s a tough one.

What I noticed is that summer break is usually not as exciting as students predict. Unless they have a big trip, maybe to Hawaii. Throughout most of summer, I had a lot of plans that were canceled. Vacation in Atlantis, gone. Backpacking in Mt. Everest, adios. Snorkeling at Chaffey College, cancelled. I couldn’t get my hopes up for anything, especially since my parents were both constantly busy. Therefore, I had a very simple plan: eat, sleep, wake up, eat, sleep, wake up, eat…you can see the pattern.  Of course, there was the occasional Let’s go swimming! A summer without pool time is no summer at all.

Though I didn’t get to do much of what I planned, I got to experience many surprising events that just popped up. For example, I found out at the beginning of summer that one of my closest friends who lived far away was moving closer to Rancho. When we finally met, our squeals could be heard from miles away. Did that warrant something majestic, like a trip to Paris?  Nope.  Inevitably, I came over to swim at her house almost every weekend.  And that was just fine.

So how would I explain what I did throughout the summer? Easy. I would say, “Nearly the opposite of what I expected, just like every year.”