Narrative Essay: A Semester Filled with First's

‘A Semester Break filled with First’s’

This year’s semester break was definitely a big thing for me. It would be the first of the many famous semester breaks college students enjoy every year. These were usually the central points of envy high school students have on their seniorities. At first, I cannot quite imagine a month-long break, an actual one month long legal separation from school! Coming from a school that has a Saturday and a Sunday for its year’s semester break, this time was a joy indeed!
The first question that came into mind was this: What to do with a whole month of freedom? I was afraid that I won’t cope with the long break and might actually fall into boredom, but what I didn’t foresee was my family helping me stack on activities to do this semester break. With their firstborn experiencing his first month-long break, my parents decided to give me three things to accomplish with my spare time. Hearing their suggestions, I took the challenge.
First, I was to organize my sister’s 16th birthday party this year. It was to be en grande this time around, given that we celebrate birthdays every year simply by going out and eating at a fancy restaurant or something of the like. This year, my parents wanted something special for my sister, since she is about to graduate from high school. I joked about me not having an en grande party as she will have this year when I was about to graduate, but they said I should give special consideration to our unica hija. I was given the whole month to prepare, starting from the third week of October till the second week of November. I thought that was fair enough and took the responsibility gladly.
Both Ma and Pa picked the venue—The Old Spaghetti house, and I was left to do the invitations, the give-away’s, and my surprise birthday present for my baby sister (and, not to mention, cheap) which was a handmade scrap book with messages from us and her friends. The party was set and the preparations were ready an ample time before the day itself, and so needless to say it was a success. I, I mean, we actually pulled it off! I just had to sacrifice some time during dinner to video the whole thing and even did some fun filming of messages her friends had for her (we just asked her to go in the restroom for a significant amount of time). I guess everything paid off when, after I said my prayer in front of the whole party before the meal, I saw that my sister had tears in her eyes. I guess she was touched, not only by my words, but by the obvious affection we all had for her…
Second, I was to go to the Fitness First gym my mother and sister go to and be a guest for a day to try and get me started towards working out and losing some weight. At first I was excited, I saw the facilities once and they were amazing, but as the day came nearer and nearer, I actually dreaded it. I realized, I was going to go out of my comfort zone by entering that sweat-inducing, vanity-encouraging place. I planned to back out and tried to move the date, but my sister saw right through me and demanded that I go with her. If it wasn’t only her birthday a few days after it, I wouldn’t have agreed.
Quite unexpectedly, I warmed up to the place the moment I stepped in to change my clothes in the locker room. The people weren’t staring at me just because I was overweight as in my nightmares, but they seemed undisturbed by the sight of me and that seemed to put me at ease. The first session I had was taught by a kick-boxing trainer who neither talked nor announced the next step he was about to do, expecting the group already knew the routine, so I left with my sister and a friend of ours after the first half. I hated those kinds of trainers that neither tried to help the group in his class keep up nor act amiable to the group to try and get them encouraged. I did a set of cardio exercises with the exercise machines in front of the televisions after walking out, and after a while decided to try the next class. This class was different, with the trainer teaching dance and who acted warmly towards us. As he taught us the steps, he would ask us if we were getting it and would start again patiently if we didn’t. I am proud to say I finished his class and was soaked through my shirt and shorts with sweat. I decided to hit the sauna before showering to squeeze out as much sweat as I could possibly lose. Overall, the experience was quite nice and I would love to do it again.
Lastly, my third task for the break was to train my little brother with the Chinese Yoyo in preparation for our Manila Hotel performance. I trained him everyday, diligently teaching him the tricks over and over again, and patiently hearing his complains of sore hands and legs during every practice. Everyday with him coming from tutorial, I would help him do his homework, feed him dinner, and then practice the yoyo tricks with him. After which, I waited until he would be ready for bed and would put him to sleep. Every night, I prayed that our training would not be put in vain and that our performance would be great with the Lord’s guidance.
Our three weeks’ training paid off with the reaction of the crowd at the Manila Hotel. During the performance, we did have times when the yoyo fell of the string, but it was okay since the both of us were doing it for the fun of it. The experience was great since it was my brother’s first major performance in front of a large crowd. I had always wanted him to follow my footsteps with annual public performances, and this time around, at my last performance, he did it with me. I do hope that this would be the start of a whole legacy of him performing on stage and experiencing the thrill I got in the past.
This year’s semester break was definitely monumental, in a sense that I got to try my hand at different things I would never have thought I would. I was challenged to go out my comfort zone and experience some things new. Boredom was surprisingly kept out of bay with the tasks I had to do, thanks to my parents! I actually felt the break was not long enough… I am definitely looking forward to next year’s semester break!