“You’re the luckiest kid in the world,” my mom would always say. I never agreed with her. I have spent every summer of my life on Cape Cod. While most kids could not wait for the last day of school, I dreaded it. To me, it meant throwing every short sleeved shirt and pair of shorts I owned into suitcases, packing the car until there was barely any room to sit, driving to the Cape the minute school gets out, and not seeing any of my friends for two and a half months. I got to watch Snapchats of all my friends having fun, while I sat in my bed watching Netflix until 4 A.M.. Just when I thought it could not get any worse, my worst nightmare had come true. I was forced to get a job...at the beach.  lol

If there is one thing I hated more than the Cape itself, it is the beach. Obnoxious tourists, being forced to talk to people, and sweating in the sun all day did not sound like the ideal job for me. My mom told me: “You will love it. You’re going to meet tons of friends!”

“No I won’t,” I said, “I hate everyone.”

I dreaded that first day just like I dreaded the last day of school. I am extremely shy around people I do not know. When I arrived at Cold Storage Beach, I prayed that 4:00 would come quickly. Those first two hours were awkward, cold, and miserable. Once we finally started talking, I realized “Okay, this isn’t so bad.” Seven hours a day, six days a week I was at the beach. I met people from all over the country, and also got screamed at by tourists who thought they owned Mayflower beach, and deserved that illegal seventh spot in the six car waiting line just because their whole family was there. Shockingly, I was actually starting to make friends. And as the summer went on, all of us actually became especially close. I finally had friends at the Cape, and not just one, I had 20. I was actually upset about leaving the Cape this summer. After 17 years, I finally thought to myself “I am the luckiest kid in the world.”