Summer Reflections

Overload

Ken Perez

Sure, education is pain, but it is not as excruciating as carrying a 500-pound piano up three flights of stairs while it is 108 degrees outside. Also, you must carry it with some dude with jail tattoos, who is calling you a bitch the whole time. 

Regardless, this summer was honestly one of the best summers I have ever had in my life. I scrambled and got the first job I could find. I ended up driving to a warehouse every morning to meet up with a bunch of sweaty dudes, get in a box truck and do some very serious heavy lifting.

I honestly lucked out and was part of a great moving company. It was a great change of pace. No emails, no syllables, no group projects with disinterested classmates, and no GPAs. All the moving company required of me was to show up on time every morning, lift heavy furniture and boxes, and STFU. It was like a brain vacation all summer long. I needed it. All I had to do was lift heavy things, listen to music with the homies and be nice to the customers so they tipped us better. I got to shed some college baby fat and build some muscle. 

Meeting the moving crew was awesome because I got the opportunity to be around a lot of gripping individuals. I got to be around ex-gang bangers, guys that liked to drift cars, a guy looking to join the Marines and some dudes who worked 60 hours a week just to feed their kids at home.

That was a strange position for me to be in. I honestly thought I would hate working as a mover over the summer, and I thought I would hate the other movers even more.

I was dead wrong, and I am happy I was! The crew I worked with really saw I was trying to bust ass and keep myself above water so I could come back to school this fall. They supported me and taught me moving techniques so I could be successful.

I got to go on a rafting trip where I caught my first trout(!) I literally got to go to Arizona, a part of the country I had never seen before. I was even gifted with an awesome dog, a Yorkshire terrier mix, who I now get to chill with every day!

“Moving is a mental game; if you want today to be the worst day of your life, then it can be!”

– some guy named Mike

Field of Dreams… And Blackberries

Cortlan Souders

With a rake, hedge clippers, wheelbarrow, and a struggling electric chainsaw, I found tranquility.

Having nearly four months of summer ahead of me before the start of Fall Term, I debated countless ways to spend my time this summer.

Despite the ample amount of time spent hanging with friends, shopping, and traveling, my anxiety remained at a record high. I had so much time to myself with my brain on full force, ready to sabotage my recent accomplishments and future goals. I felt useless, like I was unable to achieve anything, and I needed something to relieve my anxiety and stress quickly before things got worse. 

It was then I remembered that I planned to work on and renovate an old, overgrown garden my grandmother used to tend. Working outside has always lifted my mood and cheered me up, so giving myself a project to focus on over the summer could mitigate the tricks my brain played on me.

So, I slapped on my gloves, snatched up my tools, and went to work on the old garden. 

The space I was going to work in isn’t that large at all. But black berry bushes loomed across the tiny shed that was now partially engulfed by the prickly beast. Gnarled tree branches twisted back into the ground, along with many of the trees themselves being rotten from the core.

The area was so overgrown that no amount of sunlight could penetrate.

My grandmother’s once pride-and-joy was now a perfect backdrop for a post-apocalyptic movie, where plants had taken over the planet vigorously. This project was going to take a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and many hours of podcasts to accomplish. It was perfect.

I went right to work. I started first with all the hanging branches that were touching the ground, and was able to chop down some of the smaller dead trees. I then brought out the lawn mower and shredded all the pesky groundcover that was riddled across the dirt. After I could see what I was stepping on, I went to work on saving all the plants my grandma planted decades ago that were still there. Hacking out the vile thorns and weeds to reveal beautiful rhododendrons and roses brought immense joy to me. 

Chucking logs, raking 7-foot piles of debris, and wheelbarrowing it all onto our growing fire pit allowed so much stress and anxiety to blow away. Getting dirty and breaking a sweat from good clean work was so liberating.

All those weeks at the garden gave me a chance to take a breather on life and allowed me to set things straight in my mind. This discovered passion gave me a sense of purpose to bring back the image my grandmother had all this time of her garden.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, but being able to see everything so clearly now is encouraging. I plan to maintain the garden, and hopefully restore the beauty it had so many years ago when my grandmother cared for it.

Brat Girl Summer Break

Hannah Chalmers

It’s hard to believe Brat Girl Summer has come to an end and Feral Girl Fall is in full effect, but I digress!
Experiencing “summer break” as a full-grown adult has been a surreal experience. I had grown accustomed to the grind of working year-round, without much time to pause and reflect on my life. A few months before summer break, my partner and I separated, so aside from a handful of interesting dating experiences (a story for another time, perhaps) I spent a significant portion of this break alone.

Having the opportunity and space to do a LOT of reflecting and contemplating this summer was both challenging and empowering. A lot of epiphanies were had, and an uncomfortable amount of necessary personal growth took place.

I’m grateful I had the support and flexibility to stay at home with my daughter for most of it, too. Part of me misses the consistency of year-round work, but being able to make my day up as I go along is a luxury I’d certainly enjoy more of. My mindset of needing to GirlBoss my way to the sun was challenged, and I discovered a softer, slower side of myself that I quite enjoy.

Back in school once again, I’m excited to see what the rest of this year has in store for me! My dreams of pursuing a creative career remain unwavering – perhaps I am just reframing my approach

Shaping my Summer

S. Cousins

This summer, I had planned to enjoy some time free from schoolwork, but when one of my art pieces came out of the raku kiln looking much differently than I had planned, I was inspired to learn glazing. I abruptly enrolled in a ceramics course, a week or so before the end of Spring Term.

This course was far more satisfying than I ever expected. I successfully completed 45 pieces. Some could be classified as excellent; many are obviously “my first works” and showcase how much I learned over the 10 weeks. We all start somewhere!

My Mt. Hood instructor, Natalie Warrens is a skilled and knowledgeable teacher who is a successful artist in the community. She loves what she does and the joy she gets from the process of creating is infectious. She would offhandedly mention some aspect of the ceramics craft, frequently related to the curious alchemy behind glazing and firing, which would inspire me to say “Ooohhh… I want a class on that!”

The ceramics program here at MHCC has a great reputation. It’s not uncommon to find students have come from far away to study with our instructors. This results in many of the courses being full, with long waiting lists, and so they can be challenging to get into during the “regular” school year.

In taking the summer course, I felt less pressure, due to fewer people being around on campus.

Additionally, with the long daylight hours it felt quite relaxing and I still had plenty of time to go out and enjoy other summer activities.

As a recovering stress-aholic, I also took advantage of the mental health counseling available to MHCC students. The process helped me to recognize that all the pressure I experienced around performance was internal, and I could let it go as patterns no longer helpful for my life experience.

All in all, it was such a good experience for me that I may be taking summer art courses for many years to come.

Cortlan Souders