The school year is almost out, and with that comes an abundance of plans for the summer. Sophomore Ellie Stone is planning on going to Scotland over the summer with her mom.
She is going to Scotland on a school-sanctioned trip by Northern, and while there, they are planning on going to Edinburgh and the Highlands. Ellie will be spending most of her summer in the US, though, as her family owns a plane and flies up to Mackinac Island for day trips.
“My family goes up to Mackinac Island a lot,” Ellie said. “My dad’s a pilot, and there’s a runway on Mackinac Island, so we’ll just fly up there and do little day trips. We fly up there in the morning, hang out, get lunch, get ice cream, get a taxi back up to the runway, and then we literally will just fly home. My backyard is a runway, so we can pull up and fly right to my house.”
This year will be Ellie’s first summer with a driver’s license, and she is looking forward to having more freedom and driving herself around. Having a license will allow her to hang out with her friends more and connect with new people.
“This is the first year I have my license and all my friends have their licenses,” Ellie said. “I feel like it’s going to be fun because we’ll be able to do more stuff over the summer. I feel like during the summer I’m always just at my house, chilling, but now that everyone has [a license] I’ll be able to connect with more people, and hopefully maintain friendships.”
Junior Harper Vonk plans on focusing his summer around reconnecting with his family because his siblings have been away at college and in other countries. His family spends a lot of time at their cottage in Grand Haven, and a way they reconnect is by playing games like Spoons and other card games.
“With my family nowadays it’s all about getting back together,” Harper said. “My older sister’s in Spain. My second older sister is in college, so I obviously don’t get to see her very often. It’s always fun to just spend time together in the summer.”
“With my family nowadays it’s all about getting back together. My older sisters in Spain. My second older sister is in college, so I obviously don’t get to see her very often, so it’s always fun to just spend time together in the summer.”
— Harper Vonk
Most of Harper’s time is centered around spending time with his family. In the summer, when he has nothing to do, his ideal day includes being inside where the temperature is cooler, and playing golf with his family. Some of his favorite memories of previous summers include going to the Coast Guard Festival and going on a vacation to Marco Polo.
Harper has begun thinking about college, so over the summer he plans on doing some college visits and working on his college essays. He is looking forward to going into his senior year and preparing for his future.
“We’ll do some college visits, which I think will be fun,” Harper said. “I think writing my college essay will actually be pretty fun. I don’t know what I’m writing yet, so it’ll be fun to figure that out. I’m looking forward to going into senior year and having that feeling that you’re almost done with high school.”
Similarly to Harper, Junior Meredith Bethea plans on getting a job over the summer to help prepare her for what she wants to do in the future. When she gets back from her vacations to Ireland and Florida for volleyball nationals, she will begin a job as a dental assistant.
“After I get back from Orlando, I start my job, which is being a dental assistant,” Meredith said. “I want to go into the dental field and maybe become an orthodontist of sorts or specialize in some sort of dental work. I’ve always had an interest in that kind of field.”
Aside from getting job experience, Meredith plans on spending as much time as she can with her friends. She wants to get closer to her friends before the school year begins. She is also looking forward to trying new things and getting new experiences when she travels to Ireland and Florida. The summer is a perfect time to get new experiences, meet new people, and create closer bonds with friends.
“The main thing I’m looking forward to is spending as much time as possible with my friends before the school year [starts] and getting closer with everyone,” Meredith said. “Also to experience new places like Florida and Ireland, getting out of my comfort zone, and trying new things.”
