Most of my thought this summer has come spontaneously and usually occuring during extended car rides.

I've come to find that everybody thinks they're special in some sort of way; superior, if you will, to their peer. We pride ourselves on being different, but are we different for the right reasons? If this is good or not is something I have yet to find out.

However, despite our varying differences, most of us are headed with one goal in the same direction; some choose to ignore their peers on the path to happiness, while others propel their trek by considering others besides themselves.

Much of the time I spend thinking about the so called "deep" usually leads me to defeat my mind with the sometimes harsh reality of reality. It is in this way I've found myself to be quite the realist: I am but a green seventeen-year-old girl, there is a long life ahead of me, my petty "issues" will have no effect on my future or the way I will handle and portray the people I will meet in the future.

Speaking of realism, I've actually come to find great joy in the thought. True, I do tend to love getting lost in the excessive floral thoughts associated with the romantics and whatnot, but many times I am drawn back to the pure nature that is reality. Water is fresh and cold, and as long as I am allowed to touch and enjoy being surrounded in it I am happy, I find no need to overanalyze it or gush over it; I love it, protect it, and enjoy it.

Summer has been chugging along as planned. Much of what I expected has been going right on schedual: sporadic work, running into oldtime friends, losing touch with those I've become quite close to over the past year, and performing extreme procrastination on my summer reading...But then of course, that is what summer reading is about. Spending most of my time with Ryan, Bena, Chandler, and Gabrielle has made for quite a few interesting and sometimes unbelievable stories, but overall it has already proved to be a summer that will be tough to forget.

I was relieved to view two fours on my AP grade report, and even more relieved to have the opprotunity to swim in the ocean nearly everyday. One more year and I'll be out of feeling the dread of returning to highschool. Until then, I will aim to spend as much time at the beach as possible. Ryan mentioned something to me the other day while we were at Rincon that has yet to cross my mind: how amazing is it to experience life on the brink of our country? It only takes but a dip and a float in the waves to literally lose touch with our country in the physical sense. It's really quite fantastic.