Oh, where do I begin? This summer marks the first summer break I have while I am a legal adult. I am a few weeks short heading to college while writing this piece. I sort of want to reflect on all the summers I had or the ones I recalled. What did I do during each summer? Was I at a summer program that my mom forced me to go to? Did my mom sign me up to become a tutor of a test that I failed at taking? Or was I finally getting a job that pays me? All I can say is that through the ten summers I either vaguely or perfectly remember, it has shaped me as a better person and made me who I am today. I liked the transitions I have gone through.

Starting off in 2014, when I was a 9 year old from what I recalled I remembered I was a sensitive, innocent boy who was just curious about the world. Little old me went to a summer school program that took place at another school. But I would have to wake up early in the morning to go to his original school to later catch a school bus that sends him off to another elementary school in another neighborhood. On my first day on the bus, I saw my childhood bff and my mom’s friend’s daughter. Us 3 sat together for a week, we were all we knew. I met some cool upperclassmen who I became friends with, but unfortunately didn’t stay in touch with them after that summer. The following summer, I was heading into 5th grade and OMG I was in a daycare summer camp. As a 5th grader, I wanted to chill and relax, but my mom made me go to a daycare with KINDERGARTENers and bAbiEs. I was not pleased, but I survived that summer, with the help of a little toddler named Thomas. Boy was he my ride or die, usually the teachers would view me as a perfect little angel, but when I am with him. Oh nah all hell breaks loose. We would constantly make the teachers mad and make a mess during play time. Then at the end of that summer my family went on a Norwegian cruise to Alaska. 

The following summer, it was the year 2016. A lot was happening in the world, a few famous musicians passed away like George Michael, Prince, and David Bowie, those legendary icons. The Blue Cut Fire in California, the impeachment of the Brazilian and South Korean president, and the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump. Now 11 years old me would not care about the world, because 11 year old me was throwing a temper tantrum after his classmate stole $1 from me. Long story short, that summer was very eventful and I needed to decide carefully who I would lend money to from now on. My mom put me in a public summer camp that took place at the middle school I wanted to go to. I was paired up with other incoming 6th graders, in group 3 (the class number). Our counselor, Monica, was the true goat. She listened and did something to all my issues. The camp was on a trip to AMC to see a movie, I lended a camper $1 to borrow. But he didn’t pay me back and I talked to him about it and addressed this $1 issue to him and he was like; “Boy you bugging” or “I don’t owe you $1, you are crazy”. Then we argued and fought, then of course when kids fought at a summer camp, counselors got involved and we both got our fair share of punishment. One thing that made me happy though is watching the 2016 Summer Olympics. During the track and field competition, a new athlete, Tori Bowie emerged. Her story inspired me and I saw the goodness of hard work through struggle as she won her gold medal, it touched me. It taught me that as I enter middle school, no matter what struggles I find myself in, I can emerge out victorious. 

The following summer in 2017, my mother enrolled me into a summer program at a church. I was like why, do I really need to go? Anyways that summer was mostly just a boohoo praise Jesus camp for 6 weeks. The camp director at the time was such a pain in the behind. She would always favor the little kids for everything and punish me and my boys for practically breathing. Quite an uneventful summer, but the food there was good and plus I made some great friends that summer that I am still friends with today. Now let’s get into the real juicy stuff in the summer of 2018. So that summer I am officially a teen cause I was 13 at the time and so with that, puberty hits. I was in a summer camp right, and it was very eventful. I fell in love. So I was an incoming 8th grader, while that girl was an incoming freshman at the best high school in all of New York State; so of course she would be way out of my league. Not to mention she was like 3 or 4 inches taller than me. But I still loved her anyway because she’s super knowledgeable, she was really pretty, we both liked boy bands and we both hated Kpop at the time. I like kpop now, but not 5 years ago. I remember the days when we were in the cafeteria during lunch, we would sit down together and watch Chinese dramas and share the same earphones. Now I’m not into Cdramas, but what I was into was when she put her arm around me and let me lean on her while we watch her Cdramas. She was the first girl I ever loved and after that summer ended we never spoke of and saw each other ever again. We never exchanged contacts, so that romance was just a two month gig. I guess it was puppy love. She was the one and only girl I ever had a relationship with. 

Then it was the summer of 2019. I just finished middle school through a rough year. I nearly tried killing myself three times that year and boy when I graduated, it was a huge sign of relief. For the summer going into freshman year, I wanted to relax and not do much. But knowing Asian parents, that is not going to happen. My mom being the Asian parent that she is, signed me up for an SHSAT program, but not as a student, but as a teacher. Yes, I became an SHSAT tutor despite literally not passing the test itself, crazy. I’m surprised they even hired me or that I was allowed into the program. I heard they were on short staff, so I guess they were desperate for anyone. I quit after two weeks though because it got to a point where I didn’t even know what I taught. I’ve been half-assing my lessons and my explanation with the math section for the past two weeks. It was hard to compete when all of the other teachers all went to Stuyvesant or Hunter. Long story short, I wasn’t cut out for this job. Later in late July, my uncle took me to watch Spider-man: Far from Home with his boyfriend. Boy did I fall in love with that movie. It reminded me of my 8th grade Washington D.C trip; no parents and nothing but freedom. I enjoyed Peter Parker’s high school European trip and it would be lovely to live and experience what he did. I will experience that in college because I know my school is too broke to go to Europe. Then the next day I went to Forest Hills to watch “Yesterday” because I’m a huge fan of the Beatles. That film was nice and I enjoyed Himesh Patel’s singing. Last year I watched “Bohemian Rhapsody” about Queen. After watching both films, I now finally experienced watching a PG-13 movie by myself. For most people it is no big deal, but for me it kind of is a big milestone because I never really became independent. I always relied on other’s support, supervision, advice, and protection. I never became free and alone. It wasn’t something I was comfortable with. When I was 13 watching PG-13 movies by myself and going on overnight school trips without my parents, I learned what it was like to be by myself. Another thing that happened was the beginning of the 2020 democratic primaries, I was a huge Bernie Bro and he literally became my personality. 

2020, rolled around and it was the summer of Covid-19. I am a 15 year old entering sophomore year and I decided to volunteer at the largest soup kitchen in New York City to help those in need and also try to spice up my college application. I got over 200 hours of volunteering that summer and while I was out in the front lines feeding the homeless, others were staying home and playing video games. That summer taught me I have limited time on earth so I need to live and experience everything I can. I also visited upstate NY, which really sparked the travel bug in me. Following there was a major presidential election in America at the time. The summer was when the national conventions happened. I rewatched Trump’s debate performance during the 2016 primary debates during the lockdown because I was bored. Then I watched the democratic primaries and saw Biden’s story. They both went from nothin to somethin. I admired that and I wanted that, so then I decided the following school year, when I continue student government, maybe I should run for president. Although I was bummed out that Bernie couldn’t win 2020, I told myself, “Maybe I could win in 2020, but for my school’s election,”. It came out as a joke at first, but later I became dead set. I didn’t win, but it was okay because I was a rookie and plus the winner who did serve as president got into Columbia and was way more qualified than me. So honestly I didn’t care. But I was able to serve in her cabinet, so I was in student government in 10th grade.

The following summer in 2021, I was bummed out that I didn't get the summer job I wanted and the position in an organization I fought so hard to be in. I cried and was depressed, but I got myself up then told myself what I have that I am thankful for, like being able to serve in student government as a cabinet member. When I was down and decided to fight hard for what I really want, President of my high school’s Student Government. I’ve always wanted to be in charge of things and take control and also develop more leadership skills. I want to rewrite history and change things that were wrong. I came up with what I thought was a smart plan, which ultimately failed. I spent my Labor Day weekend trip to Maine strategizing on how I can become president and yet I failed. I came in second place that year when I ran for VP with the class of 2022’s Valedictorian. That guy was my partner. He was great. So looking back at the summer of 2021, I realize there was nothing that happened. Only me building up my anticipation of being student government president when I know I failed. After I failed running for the second time, I told myself in the mirror that senior year I’m going to win. 

So when the 2021-2022 school year was over, I was going to plan on how I can win the presidential election in 2022 because I literally made it my entire personality and my entire life’s dreams. However I needed to focus on my mental health because I rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and made so many enemies that I didn’t even know. To get my mind off that I decided to think about my first job I had. My first ever job was at a Jewish daycare. I liked it, the kids were great and I later learned that these parents are rich. We had celebrities’ jewelers kids there. There were a lot of funny moments and things said at the camp. What I didn’t like though was those microaggressions and some racist things some people said. Like during my break, me and my Asian coworker were sitting down. Some Jewish guy came over and asked who we were. I told him that we are workers from SYEP. He said “So this place all of a sudden hires homeless Asian people?,”. I got so tight and wanted to beat this old Jewish guy up. Anyways the last day of work came and I celebrated with an ice cream party with the kids and my coworkers whom I met. It was a blast spending time with them. However deep down since the beginning of that summer I was depressed again because I found out after the last day of school of my junior year, most people in my grade hate me. So that really put my mood down. But then I came to a decision that I should associate myself with people who want me and let go of those that hate me. I have a problem with latching onto people, I become emotionally attached to people easily. But after working I felt good because I knew those people I met from SYEP cared about me. Then I was playing volleyball by myself at the park in mid August. A group of girls walked by me and asked if they wanted to play. I said yes. We exchanged Instagrams and became friends. I needed to practice volleyball for my 2023 boys volleyball season because I sucked so bad. While they were practicing for their girls volleyball season which was coming up in the fall of 2022. We joked around and laughed. They were a group of friends I feel like I can keep in my life. 

Things were going good for me that summer. Things kept on getting better when Key Club made a Luna Park unlimited rides amusement park event. To my surprise, a freshman reached out to me and added me to her group. I went with her group and brought my friend Bryan to join because he didn’t have any friends that wanted to go out to Luna Park. I had the best day of my life, we went on so many rides and I truly felt like a human being again, compared to all the dehumanization and fake people I had to deal with at school. My plan of action was to distance myself from those who had a strong dislike in me. 

A year later I graduated high school and throughout my senior year, I did my best to avoid those that have conflicts with me. I focused on work, volleyball, and getting into college. I did my own thing and I didn’t focus on others. I kept that mind set through senior year and I will keep it during the summer of 2023. The last summer vacation I will have as a youth. That summer I got a summer job at the church summer program my mom signed me in. So in that summer camp I went from being a camper to a teacher’s assistant. I was teaching 4th grade math and I loved it. The kids can get out of hand and misbehave sometimes, but that’s with all classes. My class was the best, they were the most well behaved. The summer program was great, I spent time with kids I loved, worked with coworkers I know, and the food was top notch. I was having fun and enjoying myself, but what I didn’t enjoy is that a lot of people I love in high school are leaving for college. I wish I could see them one last time, but I don’t think I will because everyone lives busy lives. I am so sad that I won’t see them ever again and that breaks my heart. Another thing that broke my heart was the death of Olympic runner Torie Bowie. I remember watching her in the 2016 summer Olympics and now 7 years later, she passed away. I was sad and heartbroken, but this told me that life is short and unexpected things can happen. 

Life is short and summers are shorter. Summer is a period of time I spent as a youth away from school and once I’m done with school and college, then enter the workforce, I won’t have any summer vacations to enjoy. I spent the first 18 years of my life enjoying summers as much as I can because when I turn 21 and when I am done with college, my summer vacations have expired. I did my best to enjoy my summers as much as I can and made the most out of each experience.