Teen Talk
Got the Summertime Blues?
By Gabrielle Harris
Where did the summer go? Weren’t countless papers and assignments just being thrown into the air as children screamed with amazement as school was finally over? It’s not over yet, we’re only halfway there. Hopefully, you have some memories to share and experiences that you will remember for a lifetime. Every summer I find myself looking in my wallet to find nothing but change and receipts from burrito joints and a trail of sand following my footsteps everywhere. This summer has been quite an experience for me so far, going to UF for a summer journalism institute, going to Orlando and CocoaBeach. I also plan toward the final weeks of summer to go to Virginia. It’s been exciting to say the least, and I don’t wish to say goodbye to this summer anytime soon. Recently, in my previous article I spoke about the topic of bettering yourself over the summer, which I hope people actually were inspired to step outside of the box and do something positive this summer. Summer’s still not over and if you think you’re not having the summer to your expectations, don’t be down in the dumps. There are many things that are attainable to do over the summer that can bring you that summer joy you were expecting back in June!
I’m a sucker for planning events and hanging out with my friends after successfully making a good plan. My most recent plan is to have a summer picnic with my closet friends. I go on Pinterest more than I should and stumbled upon the idea of having a summer picnic. If I haven’t said this enough already if you love planning things or you need somewhere to put different ideas together, create a Pinterest account! It is such a good tool to organize ideas, foods, outfits, and countless other things. Picnics have been around since the dawn of time and planning them is truly not a hassle. Have each of your friends you plan to invite bring a dish or something to distribute to everyone attending. It can be a casserole, a fruit salad, or even just as simple as silverware because what’s a picnic without forks and knives? There are tons of food ideas on Pinterest, which is why I strongly recommend creating your own Pinterest account when brainstorming ideas. You can have the picnic at a beach, someone’s backyard, or even indoors if you and your friends aren’t the outdoors type.
Stop yourself from thinking about summer ending and focus on things you could do to make this summer even better than it already has been! It can be a picnic, a camping trip with some friends, a trip to the beach, whatever you want. Set your mind on something and go after it. You’d be surprised with how great this summer could be if you just went into it with a positive outlook.
Gabrielle Harris will be a senior at Wellington High School. She is involved in the Quidditch team, Key Club, and is the social media and news editor for the WHS Wave school newspaper. She hopes to study mass communications in college and aspires to someday tell her travel stories to the world.