One good High School memory (830 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.75 on 18 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Emily <browneyedgirl123.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2003-10-05 15:39:23 EDT
It was the spring of my junior year, and I was absolutley mentally frazzled. In the course of one month, I had taken the SAT I, the SAT II, three AP tests, two Golden State exams, the ACT exam, five STAR tests (mandatory from the state), and of course, finals in all seven of my classes. (This was back when I thought all these things mattered when it came to me going to college. What a fool I was.) Anyway, one day, after sitting through another testing period and after ending my day in a state of perpetual exhaustion, I decided I had had enough. No more little choices to bubble in, no more writing, no more listening to the proctor of the tests drone on and on. No, I wasn't going to take it anymore and I was going to go do something that brought me joy and peace. I was going to the beach.
I loaded up my board into my mom's suburban and took off with hardly a word about it. I think I called back to her "I'll be home when I feel happy again" while on my way out the door. I drove like a maniac all the way there-- I would be damned if I let anything stand in my way like speed limits or other cars. Once getting to my beach and after parking, all I could do for a minute was stare out into the vastness and beauty of the ocean. It was a clear day, fairly warm, and nothing had ever looked so inviting as the glassy surface and gentle waves breaking on the shore. I hurried down the wooden steps and out onto the sand, board tucked under my arm, ready to leave my troubles behind for a few precious hours.
I paddled out, with each stroke I was feeling strong and alive again. All I could see ahead of me was an endless horizon-- a clear, solid line dividing the heavens from earth. I felt the warm sun on my face and the rhythmic drifts of the water below. Hardly anyone else was out with me, I was virtually alone in my ocean, my comfort. Finally, I straightened myself and sat up, waiting for the first wave to lift me up and carry me across the water. My first wave came, and I caught it. I was standing, precariously balanced, fully concentrating on the movement, guessing where to step and where to shift my weight. After what seemed to be hours, the carrier was beginning to peter out and I let myself fall face forward, straight into the water. I plunged into the cool, salty depths and just stayed there, suspended in a moment of time. Everything was dark, and I could feel nothing save for the tugging of the board attatched to my ankle. I floated for a moment or two, allowing every muscle to relax and release it's tension and for those moments nothing mattered. Tests, teachers, stress... nothing mattered because I was there and I was happy underneath the water, free of my obligations and tribulations.
I surfaced again, breathing in the sharp air and feeling the warmth on my face. I glanced around at my surroundings. To the North was the pier, no longer than the length of my pinky, to the South were jagged cliffs breaking into the water, to the West was a distant horizon and eternal ocean that stretched further than any eye could comprehend, and to the East was home and my troubles. Eventually, I would have to face East again and go to it, go back to everything I had escaped for this one day. But at the moment, I was going to look to the West and revel in my old friend the ocean.
Eventually, after many more wipe outs and after the sun had kissed the horizon and the sky was brilliant orange, I had to climb back into the Mom Car and go home to sleep and start up the cycle of drudgery all over again. Yet on the drive home, with the windows down and the music turned all the way up and the sound of my own strangled voice over it, I knew I could face the next day and whatever else I would encounter because if it ever got too difficult, I would always have my refuge at the beach to escape to. This is where I could find fullfillment and where I could turn for peace, and it remains the same to me today.
User Reviews
Submitted by j0andre1 (user info) at 2004-06-03 14:08:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Like reading a novel, well written
Submitted by smokymtcsw (user info) at 2004-01-07 13:35:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice, I also got a 27 on the ACT, thanks to a 16 in math...doh. I guess that is why I went to college early and became an English major, no more math ever.
Submitted by FATMANTPK (user info) at 2003-10-06 14:15:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This brought back a memory for me. Sophmore year, finals...etc.
One warm afternoon, i got on my dirt bike, rode out to a creek. I sat there for a few hours and just listened to the sounds of nature. I wish I could do that again.
Submitted by Otter (user info) at 2003-10-06 04:15:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I get the same feeling from skiing.
Submitted by prezuiwf (user info) at 2003-10-05 23:02:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Here here, man. I am a junior myself and I need to go out and have more fun-- your post has inspired me to get off my ass next weekend.
Submitted by reallybored (user info) at 2003-10-05 22:33:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice post. The ocean is kickass. To bad i live on the bay.
Fuck the bay.
Submitted by Quartermain (user info) at 2003-10-05 21:47:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good job. Nice story.
Submitted by sublime (user info) at 2003-10-05 21:37:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1065378545878925842
Submitted by Acarnis (user info) at 2003-10-05 20:09:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Actually, ChristPuncher, I asked. Thanks for answering, LadyEmily. I was just wondering.
You got good scores.
Submitted by JohnWilkesBooth (user info) at 2003-10-05 19:53:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
If you place enough importance on test scores that you can remember them years later, you're living life wrong.
Submitted by Lady_Emily_03 (user info) at 2003-10-05 19:22:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Hey man, I swear I speak the full truth. I even went and dug up my SAT II scores and the STAR testing ones that my mom kept me from throwing away. I knew they'd come in handy some day, goodness knows they served no purpose until now.
Submitted by ChristPuncher (user info) at 2003-10-05 18:56:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
What the duece? Lady Emily is the author of this post..... Well I'll be damned. Apparently I'm the worst reader ever.
Submitted by ChristPuncher (user info) at 2003-10-05 18:55:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Sorry, Lady Emily got me so enangered I accidently gave you a 0. Here is what you deserve.
Submitted by ChristPuncher (user info) at 2003-10-05 18:53:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
God damn braggy Lady Emily..
Heres the truth:
SAT I:678
SAT II: 800
Golden State exams: Barely smarter than a Gibbon Award
ACT exam: 12
Five STAR tests (mandatory from the state): GO BEARS WOO!!!
Finals: Who the fuck cared? High school was over!!!!!
Submitted by T.chow (user info) at 2003-10-05 18:10:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
on my last day of school i screwed my art teacher
+1 for writing style
+1 for making me pop a nostalgic boner
Submitted by Lady_Emily_03 (user info) at 2003-10-05 17:58:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
SAT I:1350
SAT II: 1370
AP Music Theory: 4
AP US History: 4
AP Literature and Composition: 4
Golden State exams: High Honors for U.S. History, Passing for Spanish
ACT exam: 27
Five STAR tests (mandatory from the state):80th percentile: social studies, 90th percentile: english, 75th percentile: sciences... and I don't want to talk about my math scores.
Finals: don't remember all of them, but hey, I at least passed.
Submitted by Acarnis (user info) at 2003-10-05 16:29:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Indeed.
So what'd you get all on those tests?
Submitted by digdogdig (user info) at 2003-10-05 15:47:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent.