The Summer of Toast

It's a college cliche that every student has a summer of ramen. Explained further: He or she eats pretty much nothing but ramen for an entire summer. Well, for me, this summer has been a summer of toast.

I have never been a huge fan of the bread you can't lift without making a crummy mess, smattered in butter and some variety of fruity goop. But for some reason, this summer was my summer for eating toast. I went for Smucker's, mainly because of Willard Scott on the Today Show, in the flavors of strawberry, blackberry and raspberry. I would alternate jam depending on what mood I was in and how I wanted the rest of my day to shape up. You see, I can associate a flavor to my outlook on life.

But I would do more than smatter the jam. I would inundate my toast with jam. If I had to carb count what I consumed in toast this summer...well. We won't go there.

Beyond the literal meaning of my summer of toast, I'll go into my figurative meaning as well. Because that's probably more exciting than the calories I consumed thanks to my lack of cooking knowledge.

(Warning: This is where it gets cheesy because I had to continue the analogy.) Every day this summer was a mixture of crummy with goop (good tasting goop, though). Yes, I think I'll start out that way. My days were crummy in the way that summers should not be crummy. I was alone for the most part, with no one to go home to. I would always cook the same things and my routine never changed. My days were goopy because I loved what I was doing with The Pendulum and at work. But having to come back to an empty apartment and watch the same three movies was not the most fun I've ever had.

On several occasions, friends who live near Elon came to the rescue - more good goop. Kaitlin, for one, taught me how to cook...by cooking for me and bringing variety to my life. We watched The Onion Movie, which was ever-entertaining, and another time I fell asleep during an attempt to watch Pride and Prejudice. Sorry again, Kaitlin. Oh, and we also popped by Kaitlin's favorite theater.

And Alexa brought me to an amazing art gallery in downtown Burlington called Lyndon Street Artworks. It was an assignment for The Pendulum, so I took photos and Alexa wrote the story. You have to incorporate The Pendulum into everything you do. That is key.

In both meanings of my toast, this summer was a learning experience. I learned that I can be really independent and I can actually cook some things and be successful. The first time I failed at making pasta was also my last.

I learned that I can do PR. I never saw myself outside the print, broadcast and interactive media realm, but my eyes have been opened to PR and I enjoy it. We are friends now. After all, I do like all things fluffy and optimistic.

I learned that walking is much better (and more fun) than driving....especially after Elon's gas prices finally caught up with home's and reached $4.

I learned that sunglasses ARE a necessity. They are particularly handy when running errands across campus and you need to dodge the squirrels' acorn attacks. The squirrels take over campus during the summer, by the way. I also learned that.

I really learned InDesign in several 24-hour crash courses. I have a whole new appreciation for the fabu software.

I learned that I thoroughly enjoy writing for sports! It's very exciting and I learned a bit about the actual games in the process. Someone must have known that sports are not my forte because I have written more sports stories this summer than I thought was possible in my lifetime.

I learned that I love The Pendulum more than anything. Well...maybe I didn't learn that - it was more of a reaffirmation of something I've always known.

And of course, I learned that I love toast. But after spending a summer eating it, I'm not sure I'll crave it again for a long time.