Oh, How Time Flies

As the last of the bumps smoothed out and the plane completed its descent, my stomach tingled with excitement, happy to be back in California. It had been exactly one year since I moved away to Panama and I felt good to be back.

The summer of 2007 consisted of beach outings, grunion hunting, a trip to Disneyland, and a long drive to Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp. Does that sound like fun? Perhaps not, but for me it certainly was.

Surprisingly, on this trip the history of California started to fascinate me. When I had lived there I didn’t think much of it, but visiting Manzanar really opened my eyes, especially due to my heritage. As a Japanese-American, I felt my time there was a valuable cultural and educational experience. All this I had once taken for granted. And that summer, to see my home-state in a different way, after living abroad, taught me that I should approach all places with the same open-mindedness.

This visit made me want to explore my culture further. Never before had I felt the need to learn more about myself. Who my ancestors were and what was my family history were questions that started to come, and often, to mind. So, the summer of 2007 may not have been the most productive use of my time—in terms of academics—but it was definitely worthwhile.

The summer of 2008: another fun vacation? Not really. Senior year was right around the corner and college wouldn’t be much further behind. High school sure had gone by fast, and I had no time to waste. There were many things to do over the summer. No time to relax, everything was serious business.

I visited several colleges, met with college counselors, took SAT and U.S. History classes. Of course, this was all very interesting, but in terms of fun, it was the exact opposite of how I spent my vacation the year before.

I woke up every morning at 6, went to history class until 12:45pm, and then rushed over to my SAT classes until 6 in the evening. Everyday was jam-packed with studying, except the weekends and the Fourth of July, when I was fortunate enough to attend a delicious barbeque dinner. At least I had one holiday during my “vacation.”

Over the last two summers I learned that time is precious, and that regardless of how I spend my time, it’s important always to be trying to grow as a person.