What if you went to school for nine weeks, then after those weeks you got three weeks of vacation? This is the life of anyone who goes to a year-round school.

Most schools in America operate on a 10-month system. This was established when the United States was still a largely agrarian nation, because children were often needed to work in the fields during the summer. Obviously, times have changed today. Many people believe in going from a traditional schooling to a year round is more beneficial. Doing this means that schools will continue to operate on a 180 day system, but the breaks and school days are spread out differently. The most popular example of year round education is the 45-15 plan. This has students attending school 45 days (9 weeks) and then getting 15 days (3 weeks) off. The normal holiday and spring breaks are still built into this calendar. There are many different ways to organize the calendar, including the 60-20 and the 90-30 plans. The other facet of year-round education is the track. A single-track year-round education involves an entire school using the same calendar and getting the same holidays off. A multiple-track year-round education has groups of students attending school at different times with different vacations.

Leonard Bernstein said, “It can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable."

The language of passion. The thing that can express feelings and emotions when words cannot. The thread that has bound together people, culture, and history. From Bach to the Beatles, or the primitives drumming beats, to the backbeats of rock n roll today, music continues to be the universal language. Billy Joel said, "I think music in itself is healing. It is an explosive expression of humanity. It is something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we are from, everyone loves music." For some music is entertainment, for others a place to feel safe. And still music is a lifestyle for some. I would like to say I fit into that category; Music has always been a huge part of my life. I love it all from show tunes, to classical, and even Lady GaGa.

From the Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, to the Sony Reader, eReaders have made reading a book a thing of the past. Any one of these devices holds about a library of books.

An e-book reader, also called an e-book device or e-reader, is an electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital books and periodicals and uses e-ink technology to display content to readers. The main advantages of these devices are portability, readability of their screens in bright sunlight, and long battery life. Any Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) that is capable of displaying text on a screen is also capable of being an e-book reader, but without the advantages of an electronic ink display.

So much for a farewell. I guess I can’t stay away! But this really is my last article; the other one was my last as a high school student. Now I am a college student! Due to the fact that I am now a member of the Wesleyan University Class of 2014, I am ready to spread my wings and make my mark on the world..right?

That zealous, determined attitude has been a part of my personality since childhood, but now my confidence is wavering. College is slightly daunting. I am safe in Ely, I am always in my comfort zone, my element, and around the people I know and love. Connecticut is a new world. I will be 1,151 miles away from the place I know best. I participated in everything I wanted to in Ely, and I was not absolutely terrible at any of them. Although my ability to speak German, after three years of the class, could be considered terrible. But the point is that next year I could be awful at multiple things. What if I am bad at making friends? I haven’t had to make friends since first grade. What if I cannot handle all the reading and writing? What if I submit to peer pressure and end up in a really bad situation? What if I get really sick and don’t know what to do without my mommy and daddy to make chicken noodle soup? I have been preparing for college since ninth grade and always thought the transition would be exciting and somewhat simple. At this moment, it seems quite difficult and feel I am not sufficiently prepared for college and life in the big bad world. Maybe there should be a required class in high school teaching soon-to-be adults how to live on our own, how to pay a mortgage, how to buy and sell stock, how to acquire loans for tens of thousands of dollars to pay for college. A class that makes us read Jane Austen, learn about Asia’s history along with Europe’s, study vocabulary to ace the SAT, sear a steak to perfection, balance a check book, force us to memorize our social security numbers, how to build a fence, the number of people who do not have access to clean water in the world, the difference between anthropology, archeology, and paleontology, and how to stop worrying about what we do not know and just enjoy knowing how much learning we can do in our lives.

As summer days slide by, my fellow classmates and I draw inevitably closer to the decisions that we will soon be forced to make and the choices that will define our lives. In short, we are drawing near to not only our senior year, but the rest of our lives. The realization that everything about my life as I know it is about to change, has dawned on me steadily throughout my first month and a half of summer, beginning with the graduation of my senior friends. I watched them walk across the stage and accept their diplomas with a bittersweet feeling that is fairly new to me. It is a feeling that I am learning to associate with endings, and, therefore, beginnings.

Every ending is the beginning of something new, be it the changing seasons or the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly. It is easy to stay in the comfort of the known, but in order to grow, we need to be willing to risk heading into unfamiliar territories.