Warm sun, cool breeze, sand between my toes, and the sound of the ocean crashing all while reading a good book with a strawberry-banana smoothie by my side. That’s my dream vacation, that’s how I’d like to spend my entire summer.

Hanging out by the ocean with the sun on my shoulders (hopefully not getting a sunburn). I mean, what could be better?

While it sounds amazing, that’s not what my summer is going to consist of. This summer, I’ll be busy until the very last day. Everyday I will be up at 6:30 to head to swim practice and when its over around 8:30, I’ll be on my way to St. Cecilia to help my mom clean, organize, and repaint her classroom.

Every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday at 11:30 I’ll be at Valor Martial Arts volunteering at a program called Rock Steady Boxing helping people diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Every other week my dad joins me on this little adventure; but the weeks that he doesn’t come with me, I go to visit him at work and have lunch with him.

This summer I am also planning on taking an algebra class at either Newman or Friends University so that hopefully I won’t fail pre-calc next year…

While the summer I have planned isn’t as luxurious as my dream vacation, I know I’m blessed to be able to do what I am and to have the friends and family that I do. It’d be even better if I could take them to the beach with me, but just having the people I love around me will make this summer a blast.