Hot and hard summer

Freshman year has been over now for about a month, but I'm still at Centre. I'm working on the Grounds Crew, and I've been mowing grass, trimming hedges, cutting up fallen trees, and other tasks related to the upkeep of the campus grounds. I work from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day. Lately, temperatures here have been in the mid-90's, and I've got a pretty painful sunburn, but other than that, I'm pretty happy. The work is hard, but I've found it satisfying. Several other people work here as well, including some Centre students. I've found the other workers' company pretty refreshing, so staying here at the College all summer long never gets too lonely. Plus, there are quite a few other students living in the dorms here who work in other areas on-campus, so there are plenty of others around.

Soon after spring term ended, I flew up to Washington D.C. to begin a weeklong job that I usually do every year: working for the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee (the one that is televised on ESPN and ABC). My brother won the Bee in 1994, and shortly thereafter, my Mom assumed a full-time job producing the word list for the competition. Ever since then, I've been going up nearly every year, and in the more recent years I began working during the week, aiding in the general setup of the competition. It's a lot of fun, and this year was no different.

I'll mainly be working for the rest of the summer. During the week of vacation that I'm allowed, I'll be going away with my girlfriend and her family, probably to Colorado. I'm really excited about that. It will be good to get a break and go to a cooler climate. Other than that, I'll be waiting for the next school year, looking forward to meeting all of the incoming first-year students in a couple of months!