“My favorite summer memory was definitely my last day working as a counselor at Castilleja Summer Camp for girls in Palo Alto, Ca. At the end of the day a deluge of campers descended on me with hugs and thank-yous, leaving me teary eyed but smiling, because it was then that I realized what a positive impact I had made on these girls in just four short weeks.”

--- Annie Johnson '05

“I spent six weeks during July and August studying at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. Apparently, however, being blond, 5-foot-10, and an American confers movie-star status. Everywhere I’d go, Japanese people stopped, pointed, whispered, and pulled out the ubiquitous digital camera. And, SNAP! I became part of a family slide show. It's amazing!”

--- Brooke Millis '04

“For the summer I worked for a political nonprofit up in Oregon called the Oregon Bus Project. The Oregon State Legislature is one of the closest partisan splits in the nation, and we are working to turn the legislature to a progressive one. My favorite summer memory was shaking Bill Clinton's hand (after falling on my face in front of him), and that same night having former governor Barbara Roberts hug me, calling me ‘a peach!’ ”

--- Taryn Benarroch '05

"Interstate 70. Off the 15, and into Denver. Beautiful."

--- Brian Taylor '04

“This summer I interned at the NBA's Summer Pro League, in Long Beach, Ca. At halftime of the championship game on the last day, I was selected to compete in a Winchell's Donuts competition where I needed to make a lay-up, free throw and three-pointer in 30 seconds or less to win. Well, as luck would have it, I nailed the three-point shot as time expired, and came away with a two-year supply of donuts. Anybody want to go to Winchell's?"

--- Vinnie Minjares '04

“What I have to say is not funny or enlightening, but I thought it was really accurate... Living at CMC for a year made coming home for an entire summer quite difficult. The transition from barely talking to my parents (while at school) to having to call my mom and let her know where I was every second this summer brought me back to high school days. Needless to say, I am counting down the days to be back with the friends I grew to call family . . . besides, I miss snack time too much to stay home any longer!”

--- Alethea Andrews '05

“I was just finishing up my semester abroad in Freiburg, Germany, and went to Zurich to catch my flight back to the states. But it turns out that I had misread my departure date; I was leaving on the 21st of July, not the 20th. Since I had very few financial resources at that point, and even fewer ideas, I spent the entire night in the airport! When I finally boarded the plane the next day, I had gotten to know the Zurich airport for a full 27 hours!”

--- Richard Helke '04

“My favorite summer memory comes from when I visited my adorable friend Diana Ernst at her home in Carmel. We did the usual shopping, chatting, laughing, and sunbathing, and then spent the night dancing at a private party on a 150-foot ship from Ecuador. Though it was hard to get clearance to join the party, our attire was finally deemed suitable and we spent the whole night dancing with sailors and attempting to communicate through broken Spanish and English. Fun night!”

--- Kate Oppenheimer '05 and Diana Ernst '05

“One of my favorite summer memories is visiting 13th century Cistercian abbeys in Provence. This part of a poem by Adam Zagajewski, on one of the abbeys, Senanque, captures the moment:

These thick walls, guarding music,

destroyed so many times, given up to nature,

revolution, reason, grow anew.

Fields of lavender surround the cloister--

armies of bees and the young spring buzz above them,

and, slowly, golden heedfulness is born.”

--- Ed Haley