It is strange how a myriad of life-changing experiences can occur in just three short weeks. Strangers from across the nation, or even globe, can become “sisters”, a dingy, small, gray dorm room can become lovingly referred to as “home sweet home”, and even the most dependent teenagers can transform into self-reliant, responsible young adults. Those three weeks were purely magical.
Every day, I strolled through green, quiet quads of clustered student houses, feeling the gentle, blue breeze excite the energetic blades of grass as they vacillated under my feet. I sensed the increasing pressure of a college writing class as I transformed ideas into words late into the night, with only the mellow hum of a rotating fan to keep me from drifting off into a peaceful slumber amidst the soporific, quiescent darkness. In spite of the hectic work schedule, I mitigated the stress while enjoying the euphonious symphonies of the local philharmonic orchestra and reveling in the breathtaking beauty of the augmenting flames of Providence’s tradditional WaterFire exhibition that seemed to light up the river, the bridges, the city. I breathed in the salty, refreshing aroma of the broad Pacific Ocean; I bathed in the ever-radiant sun’s golden rays on the soft, sandy beaches of Newport and gazed off into an indistinguishable, evanescent horizon.
Time flew at the speed of light during those three weeks. They were the epitome, the ideal, of a perfect summer. The memories and the contentment they have bestowed upon me are etched into my mind for a lifetime.