A Summer Away from Home 

Awakening to the sound of pancakes flipping, bacon grease sizzling and popping in the skillet and the smell of toast in the toaster emanating through the small house became very easy to get used to over the short few months of summer I spent in Tucson, Arizona. The summer going into my ninth grade year it was chosen for me that I was going to go stay with my grandmother in Arizona along with a couple other family members. My Mom came up with this idea in hopes that the experience of getting out of Milwaukee for a summer would broaden my knowledge outside of the Milwaukee area. The conversation between my parents and I about if this was actually going to happen or not did not go as planned, my concern was the trip would set me back in my summer Athletic activities. Eventually the idea of the trip grew on me and I saw the possible positives that could from it.

Before I knew it I was landing and making my way on over to be picked up. One of my older cousins came to take me to where I would be staying for the summer, my grandmother's house. IN the car on the way over it gave me a chance to talk about what I wanted to gain from the time I was spending here. I told him I wanted to (broaden my horizons) and get some insight on what is was like to be a college student away from home better yet a student athlete away from home. Since I was away from my normal schedule I had to come accustomed to a new one. I asked my cousin if we could set aside time with one another to at the least just sit and talk and get more in depth with his experiences and see if he could give me any insight on the college. He agreed as he saw my passion for my sports was serious as well as my interest to go to school out of state and knows what it’s like to do both.

One short month later my time in Arizona was over and it was time for me to return back to Milwaukee. Looking back and reflecting back on the time spent there i gained a lot. One big change was me now opening my mind to consider colleges outside of wisconsin. Prior to me going to Arizona my mind was set, my plan was to stay here in wisconsin and further my college education with credit to, that's all I had known to be feasible and logical. As of now I am looking into colleges across the country and even have did some researching on universities overseas. I credit this to my short vacation spent in Tucson a few summer ago visiting various landmarks even getting to see the university really helping me gain exposure to new things outside my norm. In addition to this I feel that the first hand experience I had with my cousin and the inside knowledge he gave me on his time being a student athlete really gave me a clear depiction of the way of life i hope to one day lead.