I recently had a check-up on my sinuses from my surgery in May. The doctor said that all looked good, but that he wanted to remove a “little bit” of crusting that had formed. He proceeds to stick two different instruments into my nostril and begins yanking on some foreign object in my nose. He then pulls out a “crust” that was a good inch long and a half inch wide. My reaction? “That’s the biggest fricking booger I have ever seen!”
Also this summer, my mom and I embarked on an adventure. Not just any adventure. This adventure was special. It was an adventure to find the best caramel sundae in the good ‘ol state of Kansas. Our journey took us all over the state to various locations including: Dairy Queen, Braum’s, McDonald’s, and many other various locations that I cannot seem to remember at the moment. We even made homemade caramel sundaes. The verdict? The best caramel sundae hands down was found at a little shack called the “Dairy Dump” among students and is located on the corner of Broadway and Garfield in the big town of Sterling. Yes, right in my own home away from home, I discovered the best caramel sundae in Kansas. I challenge you to try one. You’ll never find a better one. I swear by it.
My roommate will be proud of me. This summer I finally found a solution to my snooze-button addiction on my alarm clock. I have been known to "snooze" for up to an hour...and my ringtone is "Mamma Mia"...so you can imagine that that get a bit annoying after the first snooze. I pity my roommate...I really do. But, no worries, because after years of searching I have found a solution! I have tried everything in my repertoire of weaponry, including putting thumbtacks on my alarm so I could not push the snooze button. I have even tried putting my alarm across the room so that I have to get out of bed to turn it off. All of my attempts have failed...until now. I have discovered that if I drink a full glass of water before I go to bed, I will have to pee in the morning...quite badly in fact. And, I have trouble ignoring a full bladder. Problem solved...well at least until my newfound trick causes me to wet the bed someday...
Finally…all of my adventures led up to the biggest adventure of the summer—something that I have been wanting to learn how to do for years. During this very summer, my good friend Andrew took it upon himself to teach me to drive a stick-shift. And believe it or not…I didn’t do half bad. I think I impressed myself actually. I went several miles before I even killed it for the first time. And, my wonderful instructor, Andrew, was an expert at staying calm. If I were him I would have been a little bit nervous when his student started screaming, "Oh crap, oh crap! There's a car coming towards us! What do I do!?" on only my third mile of driving. He calmly answered, "Move to the side of the road..." What a great teacher! The only other traumatic incident occured when I thought I had the starting and stopping down and got a bit overconfident. I stopped at a stop sign and when I tried to start, I killed it a total of 8 times in a row, which landed me in the middle of the intersection with oncoming traffic headed my way. Yeah, I was freaking out. But again, Andrew saved me...he even realized at the end of our lesson that I had been driving the whole time with the emergency break on. THAT was NOT my fault...but, it does explain the strange popping sound we kept hearing... All in all I only killed it 30 times over the course of our 20 mile journey on the country roads—not too bad for a rookie! I guess it’s not too late to drop out of college and get into Nascar… After I finished driving though, I looked under my wet feeling armpits, only to find that I had sweat tacos—and, I was wearing a tank top—a.k.a. that is a LOT of sweat! I guess I was a bit more nervous than I realized.
For my godsend, I really want to spend a little bit of time reflecting. As I look back on my summer, I am forced to look ahead to my future as well. As this marks the end of a chapter in my life story, I am given the opportunity to be the author of the next chapter. And although I may be a sophomore this year, I realize that I am still going to very much be a freshman. A wise man whom I happen to call “dad,” always reminded me while growing up that I should not be afraid to be a freshman. We are always freshman. Every time we experience new situations or meet new people, we are freshman again. Even though I am not going to technically be a “freshman,” I have accepted that I am in fact a freshman, but I have no reason to fear the unknown because I have God guiding me through each new situation. I must be willing to give up my control and place all trust in Him. It is then that I can do all things.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” –Isaiah 41:10
