A Weekend of Firsts

Another long weekend just passed. With this new schedule, "long" weekends this year have been 4 days, meaning we get both Monday and Tuesday off from classes. This has been one of the greatest rewards of the schedule this year, which has really enabled me to relax during weekends. Perhaps a nice treat during senior year. 

The timing of this long weekend couldn't have been better because the countdown towards graduation is getting more real every day. There are something like 26 more days until I officially become an alumnus of Andover. Only 26 days until I become a high school graduate and begin a new chapter of my life. Turning the page. So this long weekend, I put off my work more than I would usually feel comfortable doing to get in some firsts and check off bucket-list items.

I went to Pomps Pond for the first time this weekend! Since Pomps is around 2 miles each way from campus, I ran there on my Sunday morning run. It's a shame that I never thought of going to Pomps earlier during my time at Andover. It's a peaceful, though small beach with a lake that's surrounded by lots of trees. It's located next to a graveyard, which means traffic noises are minimal. On Sunday, it was sunny, bright, and warm, so I just stood on the beach in my running shoes and admired this view for 15 minutes. The air was fresh, crisp and there wasn't a single person around. 

Pomps Pond, Andover MA

I also went up to the Bell Tower on campus for the first time. Though the Bell Tower is arguably one of the most iconic structures on campus, it's mysterious because few people have ever been up. Every hour, the bells ring, and every evening at 5 PM our chaplain goes to the Bell Tower to play music, signaling the commencement of dinner. The bells are super loud, so they can be heard even from the most remote corners of campus. On another note, the Bell Tower was the first thing I saw when I visited Andover's campus back in eighth grade driving up Main Street. This is still the street and direction I come from when I drive to Andover so I'll always remember it as the marker visible long in the distance of campus's proximity. 

Bell Tower at night

I also took my first AP exam yesterday, though I don't have pictures of that (how sad :P). I sat for Macroeconomics, and even though I didn't take the class at school, I thought it was a good experience to self-study a subject and test myself on it. I'm not preoccupied with the grade, rather, I see it as a good learning experience. Paired with recent news headlines, particularly regarding interest rates, inflation, and unemployment, self-studying macro actually helped me understand the world around me better. 

Finally, I took my first cooking class here at Andover tonight! Our chef instructor works at a non-profit called Newall that aims to give everybody access to clean food that's "grown with love for the earth and that nourishes the body." Through sustainable and new farming techniques, she believes strongly in this mission. That's why she taught us how to make overnight salads from SCRATCH with farm-fresh ingredients. This is my first time ever making even the dressing of the salad, but it was super enlightening to learn how the ingredients work together. We used oregano, green onion, olive oil, honey, sun nut butter, ice water, salt, and lemon for the dressing. Then, we mixed in chopped lettuce, radishes, carrots, white radishes, and raisins. I learned that I've been holding the kitchen knife in my hand wrong this entire time LOL.

Twisted carrots

Salad dressings!

My two salads :))

I had an amazing long weekend, the kind that I envisioned characterizing my senior spring years back. Although we're still in the middle of a pandemic, it honestly didn't feel like it. This was truly one incredible (not to mention busy) weekend and I'm so grateful for each of these events, all of the meals I enjoyed with people, and the time I spent outdoors. Definitely one for the books.