By Dhruv Narayanan
At
the very beginning
of this summer, I
was given a chance
to go to a
HOBY leadership camp. For
those of you that
don't know, Hugh O'Brian
Youth leadership seminars occur
all over the country,
and are available
for high school sophomores
to apply and attend,
representing their high
school. The camp
consisted of many
speakers, activities,
and a community
service project to
help the ambassadors
(that's what they
called us) learn how
to be better leaders
in our communities.
This camp was eventful,
exciting, and helped
me make a whole
bunch of new friends.
I strongly encourage
you to apply and
attend this wonderful
opportunity, as I
believe this is
a life-changing experience.
The only problem was
the camp started on
the day of the
AP World History exam,
an exam I was
taking, so that
day was just a
little stressful...
Life
changing experiences
set aside, this summer
I was given the
amazing opportunity
to go with my
family to India to
visit my relatives.
It was absolutely
amazing! Reunions with
families half-way across
the globe are usually
pretty exciting, but the
sight-seeing made it
even more memorable.
I went to Kanyakumari,
the southern most tip
of India where the
Indian Ocean, Bay of
Bengal, and Arabian
Sea all meet. It
was amazing! I encourage
each and every one
of you to go
to India, stand in
the throngs of millions
of people, and just....
enjoy the culture. Stand
there with your head
in the warm breeze
and let it all
soak in. Just don't
stand out there too
long and get sunburned.
Besides
that relatively long excursion,
I also got a
chance to drive from
upstate New York
all the way back
home in Texas with
my Dad. I personally
love to drive – I
relish every opportunity
to get behind the
steering wheel, turn
the key in the
ignition (or hit
the start button – soooo
much more 21st
century), and feel
the power of a
ferocious V8 growling
under the hood (or
in my case, more
of a purr from
a economic V4 of
a Civic...). Either way,
driving is just
my thing. We covered
the 1500+ miles in
3 days (so about
500 miles a day)
with lots of stops
for sight-seeing. I
didn't even know a
corvette museum existed
in Bowling Green, KY
until we saw a
sign pointing at it.
Nor did I have
any idea how beautiful
I-65 would be with
its rolling green hills
and mountains through Kentucky
and Tennessee. Road trips
really open your eyes
to the subtle beauty
of America. Yes, they
also end up making
sure you play every
song on your iPod
twice, but music aside,
I learned so much
from just driving on
highways, stopping at
local landmarks and taking
a second to let
the history (and the
view) sink in. You
guys should definitely
go for a relatively
long road-trip, if given
the chance.
This
summer also inaugurated
my junior year of
high school and made
me start seriously
thinking about future
plans. Fellow juniors, and
even freshmen/sophomores, if
you haven't started yet,
I highly encourage
you to do so!
I know, like some
of you guys here,
that I want to
major in Engineering.
More specifically, Mechanical
Engineering. I have
seriously started looking
at colleges both in
Texas, as well as
from California to Florida
to Oregon to Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, I have
no real idea of
where I want to
go – my only criteria
on collegeboard.org is
whether or not
the school offers Mechanical
Engineering and has
an orchestra (haha). I'm
still working on that...
All
in all, I had
a very eventful summer,
full of exciting,
new adventures around almost
every corner. Now, junior
year is here, and
I'm T-Minus 70 weeks
(of school) and counting
till graduation! One
last thing, my fellow
INSPIRE-ees: Did anyone
else have as awesome
of a summer as
me? Tell us about
it!
Discuss this blog here: http://tinyurl.com/bloginspire12
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