What I Did Over My Summer Vacation

All the kids in movies and books have to write a "what I did over my summer vacation" essay. And when they get their assignments, they always moan and groan.

"Same thing every year!" they sigh before regaling their teacher with the feature-length story of how wacky and life-changing their summer was.

But it's a lie. Through all my twelve years of school I've never had to do that. I thought that senior year might be different, might make my life a movie, but no. I have a void in my high school career, as determined by pop culture, and I intend to fill it. Even if it's not for a grade.

So, here it goes.

What I Did Over My Summer Vacation:

Auditioned for Teen Jeopardy. But you, loyal Patch readers, already knew that.

Visited NYU and was a little overwhelmed.

Got my first job, at .

Quit my first job after being offered my second job, at Burgh'ers. Burgh'ers was voted the best burger in Pittsburgh. It was kind of a step up.

Went white-water rafting. But you, loyal Patch readers, probably don't already know that, because the blog post about it was titled "Letting Go (Of My Nose)." It was actually kind of interesting, I swear!

Participated in an Iron Chef America competition with my friends. I lost, primarily because my team used blueberries, the secret ingredient, to make ants on a log with celery and peanut butter. It was a terrible appetizer, and you just can't recover from a mistake like that. I have so many regrets.

Did a scavenger hunt with a friend for . I won a gift card. I have yet to use it. I'm not even sure that I've ever been in a Bed, Bath & Beyond. My mom was pretty excited about it, though.

Watched Pulp Fiction. Twice. That movie is mind-blowingly crazy awesome, yet it lost the Oscar to Forrest Gump. Now, Forrest Gump is a good movie, but no way is it better than Pulp Fiction. No. Way.

Got a puppy. His name is Linus, he's part collie and part St. Bernard, and he's so cute that I can't even take it. I could probably devote a whole blog post to him. In fact, I probably will. So that's all for now.

Went to the dressed as Dumbledore. I can't even bring myself to feel ashamed about it.

Went to a few Pirates games. This was when they were winning. Ah, the good old days.

Did a different scavenger hunt, one that was organized entirely by a friend. We had to take pictures of our team doing certain things including making ourselves into a human pretzel, making a house out of french fries, stealing food from someone's plate in a restaurant, getting into a lightsaber battle, and pretending to be Oscar the Grouch. It was intense.

Got my permit, and began to learn how to drive. It's terrifying, being in control of a car. There are a lot of things that could go horribly, horribly wrong fairly easily.

Was on a team for the in Cranberry. That was a crazy experience. Luminaria was moving in the deepest way and, after I stayed up for twenty-four hours (10 a.m. to 10 a.m.), I learned something about myself -- I get a little weird in the middle of the night. Or a lot weird. Yeah, my friends would probably say a lot weird.

Turned 17. It felt pretty similar to 16.

Hung out with friends doing uninteresting things that were simultaneously really fun.

Went to a Death Cab for Cutie and a Frightened Rabbit concert. It was amazing, partly because I was maybe 10 feet away from the stage, and partly because both bands were incredible live.

Went to Boston to visit Boston University, and other sights in Boston, and fell completely in love. I want to go there so badly now. The whole time I was there, happiness was filling every inch of me so completely that I couldn't even contain it; I had no choice but to smile like an idiot everywhere we went. I could see the next four years of my life there. They just have to give me lots and lots and lots of financial aid. And accept me. But I can dream, right?

Thus concludes my summer. I can check the "what I did over my summer vacation" essay off my list and move on to the next item. Saturday detention a la The Breakfast Club is up next. Get ready, rule-breakers, we're about to have a life-changing experience.