By: Evan Miller ’25
*Background information: After reading Alice Walker’s short story, The Flowers, students in Ms. Waterman’s AP Language & Composition class were assigned to write about a memorable moment when they realized that their childhood was over. This is Evan Miller’s “And The Summer Was Over” essay entitled, The Next Chapter of My Life.
-Photo credit: Blake Tripp ’24
Since I was little, I had always dreamed of going to a prep school to play hockey in turn helping me get one step closer to my dream. One of my teammate’s parents had talked to my parents about a showcase called the Pre-Prep Showcase. It was a hockey showcase where some of the most talented kids in the world came to get scouted by schools. It was August of 2019, my family and I hit the road for a trip to Boston. The trip was as boring as watching paint dry. When we finally got to Boston, the whole trip changed.
The practice was first thing in the morning. I stepped on the ice and skated around for a bit then, I got in the net, and BANG! The first shot hits me right dead center in the mask. I could smell the rubber from the puck as if someone had lit it on fire right under my nose. After we finished practice, the team headed back to the hotel. We had a team dinner and then we were right back at it on the ice for our first game. We played well and ended up winning.
The next day we had two more games, which we also won. After our final game, we went to a gathering where we met with all the coaches from different schools. Over the next school year, I looked into the different prep schools in New England. Everything was going well until March of 2020. And then Covid happened.
Covid had shut everything down and I was stuck at home. This might have been the best possible thing for me. Since I was bored at home all day, I started working out regularly and got into better shape. With this new free time, I started reaching out to coaches from different prep schools. One of the coaches who responded was Coach O’Brien. We had an interview and the coach was looking forward to meeting me in person.
Eventually, COVID had slowed down a bit and My parents and I decided to muster the courage to go on the seven-hour drive to Maine. It was even worse than the ride to Boston. Once we got there we explored the campus with the coach seeing all the different buildings. I was nervous but excited at the same time. After the tour, I knew this was where I wanted to be during the next chapter of my life. Going off on my own at fifteen was a huge decision though. My parents both excited and scared, knew that this would be what was best for me. Over that summer, my mom and I started packing up all my stuff. It was the end of summer 2021 when we took the first drive that would start the rest of my life. We finally got to campus and got the car unpacked, my room was ready and so was I. So I said my goodbyes and settled in my new room. The first few days passed before the first day of school. We went on a bunch of trips including mini golf and a hike. When the first day finally arrived I got ready, and walked out of my dorm.
“And the summer was over”.