Riding Waves by Susan Marie Schulhof December 12, 2014
http://www.amazon.com/Riding-Waves-Susan-Marie-Schulhof-ebook/dp/B00LQABJLW/ref=la_B00IBPFHV8_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409801829&sr=1-1
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/riding-waves/id898142854?mt=11
As I sit back in my seat and watch the rest of my classmates receive their diplomas, I reflect on my past as well as on my future. Should I have tried out for the play without Ashley? Will I enjoy being on the tech crew? How can I help and inspire others? Do I want to become a teacher? Would I be happy as a teacher? What would I want to teach? What age group? Since I didn’t love high school, would I want to teach that? Will I have kids of my own? Who will I marry? When will I fall in love? And what will he be like?
My life is not perfect, but I am happy
most days. I have gone on dates and liked different guys in high school, but I
have never really been in love yet. There are so many things that I enjoy doing
and want to try in this lifetime. I love tennis, running and riding my bike. I
have also drawn pictures since I was a little girl, and I recently started
painting with watercolors. I have taken art classes all through high school and
absolutely loved the acting class that I took just this year. Writing poems has
always been a passion of mine, as well, and the creative writing class that I
took sophomore year when I first met Mrs. Ryan was my favorite class in all of
high school.
I remember how nervous I was to take the class, but my mom encouraged me
to try it. She knows that I love to write, but that I am very unsure of the
words that I write. I felt a fondness for Mrs. Ryan from the first day. She is
so compassionate and encouraging. She was the reason that I started
volunteering after school in the writing lab to help other students. As nervous
as I am about expressing myself and sharing it with others, I am very confident
of my understanding of grammar, structure and spelling. I thought that it would
be great to help others, but in the end it really helped me. Maybe I don’t need
to figure it all out today since I start out in college just taking the general
education classes the first two years. My mom went back to work as a nurse just
this year, and my dad does love his job in sales. I cannot imagine doing either
of those, although they both seem to enjoy them. I am not worried about doing
well in my classes at college since I have always studied hard, and I did well
in high school. I just worry about the future, and I feel so unsure of where my
life is headed.
I realize suddenly that everyone is clapping and standing up. The
graduation ceremony is over, and I am officially a high school graduate. As I
walk out into the lobby, I look around for my family.
“Mom, Dad,” I yell as I get near them.
“Congratulations Harper,” My twin sisters, Ava and Sara, yell as they
hug me.
“Want to see if Ashley’s family wants to go out for ice cream with us?”
my mom asks.
“I will ask her when I see her.”
“Here she comes,” adds my brother, Jake.
“Harper! We did it. We really graduated,” she says with a grin.
“Does your family want to go out for ice cream with us?” I ask, although
I know that only her parents came to the ceremony.
“No. They went back to the restaurant,” she replies, like she doesn’t
care, but I know that it bothers her that they are so busy with the restaurant
all of the time. She often tells me how lucky I am that my parents and siblings
always come to everything. We are a close family, and somehow it is just understood
that the whole family would come to my graduation. My parents can be strict,
and that drives me crazy sometimes, but I am glad that they love and support me
so much.
Ashley and I take pictures together and with our other friends, Mary and
Laura. The four of us went to prom together as a group since none of us have
boyfriends. Mary and Laura date a lot of guys but no one serious right now. I
know that Mary was told that a couple of guys wanted to ask her to prom, but
she wasn’t interested in them. Probably if Ashley, Laura and I had dates, she
would have said yes to one of them. We all had the best time though, laughing
and dancing together. My red dress was short and a little tight; I felt like an
adult that night being so dressed up. The four of us met at my house and did
each other’s hair and make up before going. Girls will go as a group to prom,
but most guys will only go if they have a date, so there were very few single
guys there. A couple of our other friends had dates, and they kept saying how
boring prom was, but we had so much fun together.
Ashley and I leave to meet my family for ice cream after we turn in our
graduation caps and gowns and promise everyone that we will stay in touch.
“I wish we were going to the same college, Harper. We would have so much
fun.”
“I’ll be there in two years,” I promise.
“I know but I am going to miss you.”
“Let’s not talk about that tonight. We will have all summer once you get back
from your family reunion. When are you leaving for that by the way?” I
ask.
Ashley’s family is driving down to Georgia for a family reunion in a
couple of weeks, so she will be gone when rehearsals start. Since she couldn’t
take a part in the play if she got one, and we wanted to try out together to
give each other moral support, we will try out together next year and be part
of the set this year. She is allowed to miss some of those days and still be
part of the crew, just not the cast. Maybe I should have just tried out on my
own, but I think we will have fun on the crew together before she leaves for
college this fall.
“Two weeks.”
“I can’t believe your whole family is going,” I say because they hardly
ever do anything as a family. She is excited but nervous about the trip, she
told me just yesterday.
“I know. Me either. There are your parents,” she says as we pull into
the parking lot.
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