Semester Stress Ends With Summer Break Swiftly Approaching
With the end of the school year in sight, students and staff start to plan out their summer vacation.
By Ariella Just Milender
With the end of the school year in sight, students and staff start to plan out their summer vacation.
By Ariella Just Milender
As the school year begins to wrap up, the school community has begun to plan out their summer break. The break signifies a time to destress and relax after nine months of daily classroom instruction and tasks, allowing students to have more free time to work, pick up or continue hobbies, travel, spend time with loved ones or simply sleep in.
For their summer break, junior Allison Hoang is looking forward to taking up a job that allows them to explore their passions further.
“I applied for a summer job being a seamstress and costume fabricator for a community theater,” said Hoang. “I decided to get a job because I wanted to spend some of my summer being productive and I love sewing, so when I was offered this job I knew I would be doing something I love.”
Senior Lucciana Fernandini is also excited to dedicate more time to her year-round job during the break.
“I’m gonna lifeguard this summer. I lifeguard year-round but I especially like my job during the summer because there (are) way more people going to the pool so there’s more stuff to do. Also because I get tan while working in the summer since I’m in the pool all day,” said Fernandini.
For history teacher Darlene Dueck, the upcoming break will allow her to help students gain the credits they need to graduate and prepare for the upcoming school year.
“I’m teaching summer school so I’m actually really excited to help the students that need the credit for world history. I’m looking forward to spending some time with those students,” said Dueck. “Following that I’m vacationing in Oregon, and then I’m super excited that in July I’m taking an AP World History class so I’m going to get trained in AP World.”
NJ Boe, 11, is relieved to step back from school stress for a bit and turn their attention toward the things they enjoy.
“This summer I’m looking forward the most to having the free time to do what I want to do and to be able to work on the projects and hobbies I enjoy,” said Boe. “I plan to spend my summer vacation relaxing and taking a break from my APs and hopefully working a little bit as well. I want to relax cause I’ve spent a lot of time and effort on this year, and working is always nice cause some additional money is always nice to have.”
History teacher Alan Smart is excited to have more time to spend with family and show his daughter the places he enjoys.
“My daughter turns five this summer and I used to do an annual camping trip off the Russian River,” said Smart. “For the canoes there you have to be five years old and since she turns five, after five years of not doing it, I can finally do it again so I’m pretty excited to go back to an annual trip I used to do before my daughter.”
Tamba Mbawa, 12, plans to travel while preparing for the next chapter in his life.
“I’m going to Thailand for my senior trip with my friends Devan and Bella and will be working more to save up for college,” said Mbawa. “I (also) signed up for a summer program that Stanford offers to prepare low-income/first-gen students (to) transition into Stanford so hopefully I get in.”
English teacher Alan Tracey is also looking forward to traveling for a good portion of the summer break and encourages students to also do the same.
“Last year, we went to Europe for five weeks (and) this summer we’re going mostly to the East Coast for five weeks, so I’ll spend a week in Manhattan and then a combined week between Baltimore and Philadelphia, and then a little time in Washington, and some time in South Carolina and North Carolina,” said Tracey. “My advice to students would be, ‘It’s a big world so you got to start seeing it early.’ I’m always surprised when I have students that are seniors or something and they’ve never been to Santa Cruz or they’ve never seen snow or they haven’t been to San Francisco, that kind of blows my mind a little bit because it’s so doable, so I’d encourage you to get and see different places because you learn a lot about the place and yourself while you’re doing that.”
For their summer break, junior Allison Hoang is looking forward to taking up a job that allows them to explore their passions further.
“I applied for a summer job being a seamstress and costume fabricator for a community theater,” said Hoang. “I decided to get a job because I wanted to spend some of my summer being productive and I love sewing, so when I was offered this job I knew I would be doing something I love.”
Senior Lucciana Fernandini is also excited to dedicate more time to her year-round job during the break.
“I’m gonna lifeguard this summer. I lifeguard year-round but I especially like my job during the summer because there (are) way more people going to the pool so there’s more stuff to do. Also because I get tan while working in the summer since I’m in the pool all day,” said Fernandini.
For history teacher Darlene Dueck, the upcoming break will allow her to help students gain the credits they need to graduate and prepare for the upcoming school year.
“I’m teaching summer school so I’m actually really excited to help the students that need the credit for world history. I’m looking forward to spending some time with those students,” said Dueck. “Following that I’m vacationing in Oregon, and then I’m super excited that in July I’m taking an AP World History class so I’m going to get trained in AP World.”
NJ Boe, 11, is relieved to step back from school stress for a bit and turn their attention toward the things they enjoy.
“This summer I’m looking forward the most to having the free time to do what I want to do and to be able to work on the projects and hobbies I enjoy,” said Boe. “I plan to spend my summer vacation relaxing and taking a break from my APs and hopefully working a little bit as well. I want to relax cause I’ve spent a lot of time and effort on this year, and working is always nice cause some additional money is always nice to have.”
History teacher Alan Smart is excited to have more time to spend with family and show his daughter the places he enjoys.
“My daughter turns five this summer and I used to do an annual camping trip off the Russian River,” said Smart. “For the canoes there you have to be five years old and since she turns five, after five years of not doing it, I can finally do it again so I’m pretty excited to go back to an annual trip I used to do before my daughter.”
Tamba Mbawa, 12, plans to travel while preparing for the next chapter in his life.
“I’m going to Thailand for my senior trip with my friends Devan and Bella and will be working more to save up for college,” said Mbawa. “I (also) signed up for a summer program that Stanford offers to prepare low-income/first-gen students (to) transition into Stanford so hopefully I get in.”
English teacher Alan Tracey is also looking forward to traveling for a good portion of the summer break and encourages students to also do the same.
“Last year, we went to Europe for five weeks (and) this summer we’re going mostly to the East Coast for five weeks, so I’ll spend a week in Manhattan and then a combined week between Baltimore and Philadelphia, and then a little time in Washington, and some time in South Carolina and North Carolina,” said Tracey. “My advice to students would be, ‘It’s a big world so you got to start seeing it early.’ I’m always surprised when I have students that are seniors or something and they’ve never been to Santa Cruz or they’ve never seen snow or they haven’t been to San Francisco, that kind of blows my mind a little bit because it’s so doable, so I’d encourage you to get and see different places because you learn a lot about the place and yourself while you’re doing that.”