Bulldog Times
Free Summer? Not So Much.Thursday, April 07, 2011 By Ellen Hevenor
While you sit in math class, you watch the seconds slowly tick by on the clock as you try to solve a problem that has more letters than numbers. You go to history, where all of the names, dates, and places mix up in your head into one big pile of nonsense. In science, the periodic table seems more like an endless black hole than an organized set of elements. The days ‘til summer seem to drag on for ages. In just a few short weeks, the only change in my life will basically be that I don’t have to go to school every day. For most kids, summer is all about staying up late, sleeping away half the day, and then heading over to the river to lounge around with friends. It’s three months without a care in the world. For other kids, however, summer doesn’t seem like a break at all. Take my summer for example. On weekdays, and even some weekends, I will have to wake up early to go to work all day. I will work at my dad’s lumber company stocking endless shelves or working at the counter as customers walk in and out of the door buying either gallons of paint or a pound of nails. Summer, for me, is also when stockshow begins. I have to spend a few hours every week in my barn working with the sheep, so on weekends we can take them to shows. Along with work and stockshow, I will hopefully go to a journalism workshop for 2 weeks at SAC. With all of these commitments, my number of free days during summer is slowly getting smaller and smaller. Yes, not having school does open up a little bit of free time, but not much. My chances for going to the beach or even seeing my friends all the time is a far reach. Summer is definitely not what it used to be. |