Hey Everyone,
Considering I got a late start on this whole blog thing, I figured it would be kinda fun to post a blog about my summer. This summer has been, well it's been interesting. It is scary to think that this is one of the last summers I will ever get! I can't believe how fast time continues to fly by. As most of you know my stories are never short, so enjoy the book below :)
One of the coolest things I was fortunate enough to do this summer was to be a leader for theROCK tour. theROCK tour is a trip that the middle school youth group at my church in Cedar Falls takes each year. As a small group leader for a group of 7th grade guys, I was asked to go along. I have never been on a trip like this, and I was really nervous going into the trip (me be nervous? never!) We left super early one morning, and made the 6 hour drive to Kansas City. I am one of those freaks that really enjoys bus rides, and I definitely had a great time one the bus ride. I got to know so many of the kids that I had never had the opportunity to talk to on Wednesday nights. When we got to KC we spend the day at Worlds of Fun. Being the avid roller coaster rider that I am this was quite the experience ;) I was teased all day by the kids who thought I was being a baby, but I stood strong and rode 0 roller coasters. I did ride the water ride about 4 times....yeah, it was pretty intense. All of my campers made it out of the camp safe and sound (probably because they had the best leader ever, but I'll continue to be modest). That night I got into a pretty intense game of UNO, and I dominated. After my win I took my victory lap around the hotel.....it was similar to an Olympic gold medal winners victory lap. I was, for some odd reason, labeled a cheater and was forced to make a deal. The girls promised to admit that I won if I let them paint my nails (see pictures on Facebook). WORST IDEA EVER. I found out quickly that nail polish is a pain in the rear to get off. The next day we went to Oceans of Fun, which is a huge waterpark. It was a blast. We were there for the entire day. I am known for my dolphin-like swimming abilities, and I gained a little bit of respect back from the kids that day. The final day of our trip we spend the morning cleaning up Lake Olathe, and then continued the long drive back. We stopped in Ames for pizza and games at a local community center. My competitive side got the best of me, and in the process of dominating the games I may have scared and or injured a few of the kids :/ ooops. The trip ended up being a great experience. I absolutely fell in love with the kids, and found myself dreading returning home. I will never forget that trip.
Two of my best friends (Brent Ford and Steven Staggs) came up and spent the weekend at my house. For those of you that have never seen us all together, consider yourselves lucky. Brent and Steven are two of the greatest guys I've ever met, but they are crazy. If you have ever seen Wild Hogs (quit laughing, it's a great movie!) we are similar to that group of guys. Steven is the fearless, spontaneous, out for a good time "Woody", Brent is the reserved, funny, "Bobby", and I fall somewhere in the middle of "Doug" and "Dudley". We had the great idea of going to Lost Island Waterpark. One of the best days of my life. From terrorizing the wave pool, clearing land speed records on the steep water slide, to quite possibly breaking one of the rides we had a blast. I grew up with Steven and Brent, and we spent A LOT of time together over the years. We all go to different colleges now, and don't get to see that much of each other. I consider these guys to be two of my best friends, and I know that whatever happens they will always be there for me. This weekend was great to just spend time with them like old times.
The final fun part of my summer was seeing two of my great friends, Molly Troendle and Seth Webb, get engaged. I have been very fortunate two have know these two love birds since the summer of my Freshman year. I had no idea the night I met them that they would end up being a huge part of my life. I am so excited to see where their lives take them, and to watch as they start their lives together. Seth was even crazy enough to make me his best man. Oh the problems I could cause ;)
Well those three events sum up the fun part of my summer (minus the trip to Colorado I am about to take this week with my room-mate, and the return home of a close friend). The rest of my summer was spend shadowing doctors, working (as always), and studying for the MCAT on Sept 1 (scary). I have grown so much this summer, and the lessons I have learned are more valuable than any trip I could have taken. I was forced to grow up a lot, and for that I count this as a great summer. I am extremely ready for school to start, and to begin my final year at UNI. I hope you all had as great of a summer as I did (hopefully a little more eventful). Thank you for reading the book above, but I hope you got a few laughs out of it, or at least a smile :)
Preston Sereg
