As winter begins to melt into spring, I find a new weightlessness in life.
Suddenly, 6 a.m. doesn't seem quite as early, the afternoons become longer, and all the little hairs on my body stand at the sound of "summer vacation."
However, time doesn't seem to understand my preparedness as fully as it should, and it somehow manages to meander its way through April, May and half of June quite slowly. It folds back my eyelids and makes me stare at the sight of summer, encompassing the distance.
So I fill my time with all sorts of inhumane activities. School is school of course, but afterward I strap on my goggles and play catch with my rod-basket for two hours each day.
Some may be familiar with this fine sport. Most call it lacrosse, but in reality, the title of "Please Smash My Unprotected Fingers With Your Big, Metal Stick" is probably more fitting.
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After I tend to my accumulating knuckle bruises, I spend my nights drowning in pages of material that I will probably never need to remember. AP tests are less than the highlight of my May, and they are just another metaphorical punch in the face that spring loves to dole out.
I can almost hear spiteful laughter as the clock rounds 2 a.m, but that could also just be from prolonged lack of sleep. I never fail to procrastinate for these tests, and just when I would appreciate time to move a bit more slowly so that I can carefully cram knowledge into my brain's tired capacity, it speeds up and stresses me to sleeplessness.
Don't be fooled into believing that my work is complete after my testing is finished. The next three weeks are swallowed up by projects and papers and things to occupy the empty space between then and final exams. I will be able to taste summer so strongly at this point that I will probably know, down to the hour, the amount of time I have left to serve.
The only thing that keeps me and the rest of us going is the light we see. It encompasses the plans we've made and the spontaneous thing we'll do in the next three months. All of the hard work becomes more than worth it when we hear the final bell sound on the last day of school.
So I'll keep the routine because I know it'll end. And when it all ends for good next year, I know I'll miss it sometimes. For now, though, I'll just be content with spring break.
