Making The Most Of My Time

We pull up to the entrance, my mom and I, a little confused because it seems to be deserted. The dirt path crunches under our feet and the cool, October breeze blows all around us. In front of us, I see the college campus*, but other than that, I only see trees. Miles and miles of trees bearing proudly their autumn colors- the vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows- stand like a barricade, blocking out any sense of civilization. It’s a beautiful view, but I can’t picture myself going to school here.

I always say that I don’t want to go to a huge city school, but middle-of-nowhere New York isn’t exactly what I have in mind either. The long dirt road, the abundance of trees remind me too much of the overnight summer camp I went to. Already, the questions start rolling through my mind: Do I really want to apply here? My mom and I wander through the vacant campus that shows no sign of where to go, eventually finding the information session after teaming up with another family who’s in the same boat as us: out-of-state, lost, and confused.

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Sometimes It’s The Little Things

“Canton: 83.5. OA: 86.5”. As the entire Oliver Ames girls’ swim team rejoices, the sudden pang of guilt hits me right in the gut. Even though winning and losing is entirely a team effort in swimming, I can’t ignore the role I played in this loss due to the two close races I had, in which I fell short. Although realistically, I know this 3 point loss is not entirely my fault, I sigh of relief as I head home, where I can do nothing else but lay around and eat lots of food on this Friday night, January 15, 2016.

On my return home, I peel off my cold, wet bathing suit and change into my baggy sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt to thaw me from the frigid outdoors, throwing all care about my current appearance out the window.

As I inhale my dinner, slumped back in my chair and the exhaustion of the meet setting in, my brother commences his weekly attempt to convince my sister and I to go on some late night adventure with him. My sister immediately agrees, always looking to go out, while I slide further down in my chair, not really in the mood to move at all. However, after minutes of bickering, I reluctantly throw on my Uggs and grab my wallet, guilted into venturing to Orange Leaf because my brother is heading back to Virginia in two days.

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How the Dishwasher Ruined Christmas (Almost)

Almost every night in the McKenna household seems to end the same way. My siblings, my dad, and I goof around the kitchen, while my mom watches on, unamused, and afraid we’re going to break something. Usually, lots of tickling, laughing, terrible, yet hilarious, dad jokes, and chasing occurs. You may be thinking that we’d be too old for these kinds of shenanigans, but I think you’re never too old to have a good laugh with your dad.

Only rarely is there a negative outcome, as was the case on Tuesday, December 22, 2015.

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