Summer helps build appreciation for education

As students head back to school they exchange stories of eventful summer vacations. Conversation includes summer camps, jobs and vacations. Only rarely does one hear stories about summer school.

Planning my summer last April, I anticipated a nice, relaxing three months at home. Dip-netting, college applications, and summer homework were all on my to-do list.

By mid-April, however, an opportunity came along that made me reconsider my plans. I was invited to apply to a summer school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., to study government and politics. It looked like a rigorous curriculum, and it meant spending a month of my summer taking a college class with finals and a term paper to boot. Luckily, I decided to be adventurous and was rewarded with one of the most amazing summers of my life.

When I received my acceptance packet, it arrived with the information that pre-work would be sent out shortly. Several weeks later, this assignment arrived in the form of a list of debate topics, five of which I was to prepare for before even arriving at summer school!

I had imagined quite the selection of possible homework assignments, but I never would have dreamed of preparing for five debates in a matter of weeks.

Before I knew it, however, under slight protest, I was spending the last free week of my summer researching everything from the merits of stem-cell research to the negative repercussions of the death penalty.

There was a certain satisfaction in boarding the plane to Washington, D.C., with my file folder full of notes and newspaper clippings. I had been listening to National Public Radio for a month in preparation for these debates and figured I was as ready as I’d ever be.

Nevertheless, I still had my reservations that this might not be the most exciting way to spend my summer.

After arriving and getting settled into my dorm room, my resident assistant was kind enough to inform us that our teacher had assigned us two chapters to read for class the next day.

This news coming at our 11 p.m. bed check, my new roommate and I were able to bond over a night of caffeine-induced studying and speculation of the three weeks to come.

Having spent 10 sleepless hours on a plane that day, it was only with a liberal amount of coffee that I was able to trudge off to my first class the next day.

The first words I remember hearing from my teacher were something to the effect of, “It’s crazy to try to take an Advanced Placement course in three weeks” — exactly the kind of inspiration one needs to hear after several sleepless nights and a half-finished homework assignment on her desk.

Fortunately, I found the lesson to be one of the most engaging and enjoyable of my life, the three hours passing as though they were minutes. By the end, however, I agreed with my professor. I was out of my mind to be attempting this, but determined to give it my all.

Feeling better about the course, but still apprehensive about my classmates, lunch that afternoon was an interesting affair as I sat down with a group of students avidly discussing their dealings in the stock market.

Needless to say, I spent the meal biting my tongue to the point of excruciating pain, passing off my smile as enthusiasm for the subject. Never before had I encountered a group of teenagers willing to hold a full-fledged conversation about the stock market.

If I thought that I was far removed from these unusual mealtime debates, the joke was on me. In a few weeks I found myself in heated conversation about the latest Supreme Court ruling, discussing it in relation to that day’s lesson in class.

A testament to this metamorphosis is the fact that my fondest memory of the experience is of the study group I had with my classmates before our midterm exam.

I never would have guessed that studying notes on American government could have produced so many laughs and inside jokes.

I don’t aim to solicit summer school to fellow students; it certainly has to be a personal choice. Long days of class, and even longer nights of homework, don’t leave much time for socializing or REM cycles.

With the correct combination of determination and coffee, however, it can be a rewarding experience to be cherished for years to come.

I made friendships that will last a lifetime and was prepared for college in ways I would have never thought possible.

My professor made the course the best I have ever taken and brought us all to tears with his heart-warming graduation speech.

In short, I had the best teacher, class and fellow students I have ever encountered, collectively making it the best summer of my life.

Lexie Krell is a senior at Colony High School in Palmer.