By Sarah Elkeaikati
School burnout is setting in and not even the colorful walls of
Building 1 can keep me focused.
Up until last week, all I had to look forward to that was
remotely close to a vacation was the unfamiliar Mt. SAC campus
where I planned to enroll for summer. How exciting.
As I sat and scrolled through the course offerings, I realized
that for every summer since the ninth grade, I had sacrificed
travel, fun and experience to sit in a stuffy classroom and
daydream about all the places I would rather be.
So now, taking a class over summer sounds about as appealing as
watching New York Goes To Work”at this point, it’s just
torture.
Though I can’t argue the benefits of knocking out a few courses
over summer, the life changing experiences that come with a
exploring a new country and culture are beyond measure.
Like most students, I had always planned to travel, but this
pesky little thing called reality kept ruining the picture.
My mental list of things to do after graduation included “land
an internship” and “find a job,” and since the lovely economy has
made both these things sad impossibilities, taking a long vacation
had been sitting on the back burner for a long time.
Then I threw the damn list out the window.
Instead of forever putting off fun for the tedious schoolwork
that already overwhelms 90 percent of my life, I went the road less
traveled”literally.
I signed off of the license agreement for my apartment, skipped
my summer registration date and booked a two-month trip to Beirut,
Lebanon.
I figured that my summer could either amount to four units on an
endless transcript or 60 days of the ultimate adventure.
The choice was easy.
I decided on Lebanon first and foremost because it is my
parents’ native country and I had gone before with my mother
several years ago.
My previous trip consisted of visiting every friend and relative
that ever crossed my mother’s path as they offered me cup after cup
of Orange Tang”remember Tang? It’s like crack to them.
Needless to say, I deserve a re-do.
This time I decided to ditch my mom, hide from the Tang
distributors and have the vacation I’ve always dreamed of.
So after 10 weeks of writing, ranting, cramming and cursing (it
gets stressful around deadlines), it’s time for Sarah in the City
to sign out.
For those of you staying in sunny California for the long
summer, I urge you to find some time to put aside your
responsibilities, at least for a while, and just have a little bit
of fun.
In the meantime, I’ll be in Lebanon probably guzzling down some
Tang”I don’t want to be rude”and soaking up all the country has to
offer. Bon Voyage!
Reach Sarah Elkeaikati at
asstlifestyle@thepolypost.com
Hey baby, what’s your sign?’
