Allison's Notes:

Today is the last day of EYF.  I don't wanna go home!  I'm going to miss all of you guys here when I go home.  I've made so many friends, learned more about myself as a person and about other people as well.  I've had good times, bad times, embarrassing moments, funny moments, and just plain old stupid moments.   This has been a pretty awesome trip since Saturday.   I swear the week just FLEW by.  In the beginning, it was kind of slow-moving, and then all of a sudden, I realize "Whoa! It's Friday ALREADY?  What happened to the time?"

This morning Susan and I got up and went to breakfast.  A lot of people were tired because we had stayed up the night before.  The group at breakfast this morning was a LOT smaller than normal, because a lot of people went home the night before.  Some people were leaving right away that morning, so not very many people were at breakfast.  It was somewhat quiet that morning.  It was kind of sad, because we knew our trip was coming to a end.  We talked about the events of the past couple days and just kind of thought about the future, what it was going to be like when we went home.

We finished breakfast, and we had to go back to the dorms, because we had to finish packing.  The morning moved by quickly, and we had to say goodbye to people.  Susan went to take a nap, and she slept for awhile.  My mom came to get me, and we went to get my stuff in my room.  This time it was my turn!  Susan was asleep, and I'm leaving first!  So, I woke her up and we said goodbye to each other!  To Susan:  Thanks for being such a great roomie!  You were totally awesome!  I love you like a sister!  Thanks for a great trip, and I will always remember the memories!

That morning, I had a few appointments at the school, so we went to our appointments.  My mom and I went to the hotel in the early afternoon to drop off my stuff and give me a chance to rest.  I slept for a long time that afternoon, thinking about all the stuff, and when I woke up, it's like I got the true meaning of what this was all about.  I know it sounds corny, but after I was on my own, and got to think, I put everything together and I just came to a conclusion of what I had learned and experienced on this trip.  It was pretty powerful for me, because I felt a change in me.

My mom says that I seem more mature now, and I feel more mature, now that I got to experience EYF.  I've changed some of my habits, most importantly, my approach to college, and came home with several great tips on how to make school easier for me, and to succeed in life.

The main problem I had before coming to EYF was that I was scared, I mean I was TERRIFIED of college.  When I was younger, I always used to say "I'm going to college.  College is important to me."   Now that I'm 17 *as I write this*, and it's getting closer and closer to that time, I'm getting scared, and wishing I was younger, because I don't want to think about college right now at the moment.  As we learned in our Personal Awareness class yesterday morning about making decisions, I was avoiding the issue, which is NOT a good way to make decisions.  I hadn't signed up or started preparing for the SATs and the ACTs,  and putting minimal effort towards looking at schools.  I guess I thought that if I didn't think about the issue, it would go away on its own and take care of itself.  WRONG!  You have to work at it.  It's not going to take care of itself.  My mom was trying to get me to do all that stuff, but I was being resistant towards the idea.  I didn't know what to do, so coming to EYF was a smart decision, because I feel more prepared now for what I need to do to get ready.

Now that I've been here, learned this stuff, I'm going home to a new Allison.  I feel more confident, more secure about myself, and most of all, with a good, improved attitude.  I know this might sound stupid, but it's true.  EYF and the people here, both staff and students, have impacted my life.  Thank you so much to all of you for this.  I really appreciate it and I love you guys!

Please keep in contact with me, and feel free to come back and visit this website as many times you feel like.  This is for you!  I hope to see you in the fall of 2000 at RIT/NTID!  We're going to have a lot of fun together!

With Lotsa Love:

Allison "Alley-OOP!"

What We Did Today:
Friday, July 23, 1999

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast
9:00 - 10:00 Checkout

And now what you've been waiting for. . .