My Summer - Michael Le

There were many highlights of my summer; they include spending time with my girlfriend and my family. This summer I was genuinely happy because I learned a lot about myself from hanging out with my girlfriend. She and I always have fun no matter what we do, out of the whole summer we went to Great America twice and Water World once. I’m not a fan of roller coasters but I tried them just for her! The day we were at Great America the temperature was ridiculously high, I was really hot but the good thing was that I worked on my tan. I never rode roller coasters as a kid and that is why I have extreme anxiety before each ride but this summer I learned that I can handle them and that they are fun. Water World was really fun even though I don’t know how to swim, I rode this really steep water slide where I went airborne. Besides from those events, she and I just saw each other every couple days and went out to watch movies and eat dinner. Just from the simple fact that I was with this girl made my summer pretty amazing.

I worked at the Oakland airport because I was referred there from the Youth Employment Partnership. I made and sold coffee in the airport at a café named Training Grounds. A lot of good things happened to me from working at Training Grounds. I learned how to use the espresso machine, gained customer service skills and gained good references for future job applications. I consider this as one of the highlights of my summer because I learned that making money isn’t easy and that makes me think twice about spending money.

I went to Oakland High’s and Oakland Tech’s graduation this summer and it motivated me to finish high school. I enjoyed watching my brother walking the stage and receiving his diploma. This was a highlight of my summer because seeing how happy he was made me realize that it’s all worth it in the end. He is going to attend UC Davis and I am happy for him. I cannot wait to graduate from high school so I can shine in college and move on in life.

One of my friends came out of prison, he has been incarcerated for about eight months and he was release when summer started. We caught up and he told me stories of prison and it scared me straight. He is like an older brother figure to me and so he lectured me and I learned from it. The summer of 2011 is the summer where I learned a lot about myself, had a lot of fun, spent time with the people I care about, and learned a lot of life skills. I couldn’t be any happier with how my summer turned out, thanks to my girlfriend, family and close friends.