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During last July’s 5.8 earthquake, 3-year-old Bronwyn told her 1-year-old sister, “We’re going for a wiggle.” READ MORE
Teen Years (13-18)
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To College Far, far from home Three thousand miles will soon separate me from the life I know now. All that is familiar will be a continent away after I fly out to Boston, to Harvard, in the fall. While thrilled for the experiences ahead, I can’t help but look back at what I will leave behind. My parents, who have always taken care of me, will no longer be there to run out for Tylenol in the middle of the night. Next year, it will be up to me to nurse myself when I’m sick and keep myself healthy during finals. And instead of curling up on the couch next to my mom after a long day at school, I will have to call to hear her comforting voice. I’ve already taught her how to text message so our relationship doesn’t weaken as a result of the distance. My current friends will no longer be a 10-minute drive from a Starbucks run and movie night. I’m going to need a generous long-distance plan to pay for the two-hour phone calls about my latest crush or my painfully difficult math class. While I know I’ll make new friends with whom I can stay up for hours talking, I’ll miss the inside jokes and the four years of memories with the friends I have now. And as trivial as it seems, I will definitely miss the sunshine. Although I’m looking forward to walking in a winter wonderland and having snowball fights between classes, the Northeastern storms are pretty intimidating for a California girl. I relish in the excitement of the future – new friends to meet, a new city to explore, new memories to create. But what I know now is so perfect. I await that final boarding call in September.m Courtney Skinner of Troy High School in Fullerton has been a teen writer this school year for OC Family Magazine. Walkthrough A new life to be lived By Robin Lam For the past four years, I’ve been itching to be a high school senior. But with tests to take, grades to make and responsibilities to fulfill, the promise of a “golden senior year” seemed like a sham and I couldn’t wait for the freedom that awaited me June 15. But now, I’m crushed by the millions of worries that come with the realization that things are going to change, drastically: What am I going to do with my life? And yet, even with these questions chipping away at my self-confidence, I can’t help but anticipate what wonders await me at UC Berkeley this fall. Exploring the courses in my music and history majors, attending classes at 11 a.m. instead of 7, lounging around Berkeley’s cafes, and feeling the rush of school spirit at the Big Game against Stanford. I look forward to studying subjects that interest me instead of curriculums that are manufactured. I want to travel abroad in Europe and Asia, meeting as many people as possible and learning as much as I can before having to settle down and get a job. Am I being too idealistic? Perhaps, but what good is college if it can’t let me dream? The reality is that I will have to find a job to support these lofty goals, and most likely Doe Library will become my second home. My mother will call me every night to make sure I sleep early, and my sister, a junior at Berkeley, will peer over my shoulders and frown if she catches me reading science fiction instead of history. No longer sheltered by my parents, I won’t deny that college is scaring me witless. But I think I’m as ready as I will ever be. Robin Lam of Troy High School in Fullerton has been a teen writer this school year for OC Family Magazine. |
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