You know it's not just a job when...

...it's raining and you're worried about the crops, even though it means you get a day off from work because it's too muddy to get anything done on the farm.

I miss the work. Wow.

Vacation, yes please

A special kind of heaven is working all day in the blazing Texas sun, in the dirt on a farm, then showering and getting on a plane to somewhere cool and breezy on the Pacific Ocean. Yes!

Is it a coincidence that I think I lined up a summer job for next summer that isn't in the heat, in the dirt on a farm?

College classes

Reporting from my first college summer classes:  My first experience of summer school and college courses is so far a positive one. Two hours a day, five days a week with reading and homework every night makes for an intensive learning experience, but I think I like it. Even with two classes (yes, that's right, boys and girls, four hours a day in class, reading and homework every night x2) it's manageable, but the interesting thing is how much I'm learning. So this is my summer so far...

School's out!

The end is in sight! No, wait, that's just the start of summer school.

Dual credit classes at nearby college, 4 hours a day, 5 days a week.

I think of it as a practice run for college.

This is way better than dual credit classes offered on my high school campus at 7:00am, which just sounds crazy.

Does this mean I'm a grown up now?

11 weeks.

Summer used to stretch out forever. Now I know it's only 11 weeks. Was it always that short, and I just didn't know it?

Engineering summer programs

I've spent three weeks this summer exploring college engineering programs, living in dorms, eating in cafeterias, doing my own laundry, living with a roommate I've never met before. I had the opportunity to actually do some field and lab work in the areas of environmental engineering and hydrology, and spent some time learning about materials engineering - all pretty interesting.

If you get a chance, go somewhere for what's called a pre-college summer camp or program. Some cost money, but some - like mine this summer - are competitive for a scholarship to attend. All I had to do was get myself there and bring my sheets, towels and clothes.

Start looking early, as soon as February or even December. It's worth it just to experience life as a (sort of) college student, away from your family and out on your own.

No rest for the almost-adults

With some encouragement (OK, a lot of encouragement) I'm planning a summer that, like every summer for the past few years, is a little more work and a little less play. Is this what growing up looks like?

I'm still counting on hanging out by a pool somewhere as often as I can, but I've got a lot of ground to cover.

Getting my drivers license, a week long PSAT prep class, and two different summer camps - one for materials science (where I hope to learn exactly what that is) and the other a two week engineering camp that I actually had to compete to get into BUT the scholarship pays for everything and I get to live in a dorm and see what being an environmental engineer is like.

Eleven weeks seems like a long time at the beginning of summer, doesn't it? I'm going to make this one count.