Since I’ve moved to Austin from Scituate (which is in Massachusetts for those who were wondering), I’ve noticed a lot of the differences between them. The list could go on and on and on and on and on and—well, you get the idea. So I’m going to focus on the holiday season for now…

Austin: The winter is spent walking around at the Hill Country Galleria, usually only wearing a jacket to brace the cold.
Scituate: The winter is spent sledding down snowy hills wearing a snow pants, a bulky jacket, a scarf, hat, and mittens.

Austin: They make fake snow and people come out to the Galleria to see it.
Scituate: You have your own personal winter wonderland in your backyard!

Austin: I think it would be a Christmas miracle if we had a white Christmas.
Scituate: Dreaming of a white Christmas isn’t such an unrealistic goal.

Austin: Our weather is like a roller coaster! One day, it’s almost snowing and the next I’m in shorts.
Scituate: You don’t even need to check the weather forcast. Everyone knows it already: COLD.

Austin: We have one snow day (yay!) and we have to go to school on President’s Day (meh).
Scituate: Five days are incorporated into the schedule in case of snow. Because of that, their holiday vacation is shorter than our’s.

Austin: If it snows at all, then we don’t have to go to school. We had an unexpected late start because the road’s were icy.
Scituate: They’ll only get a snow day if it’s really coming down.

Please forgive me if my writing is kind of vague. I signed a contract stating that I would not discuss test questions with anyone but I didn’t sign anything prohibiting me from telling you how I felt. But I don’t want to break any official rules so I’ll try to keep it short.

6:00: I’m awake (barely) at this ungodly hour on a Saturday morning. Why? I have to take the SAT this morning for the Duke TIP Talent Search. Yay…

7:15: I arrive Westlake High School surrounded by kids more than 3 years older than me. I’m alone, lost and confused in the crowd of giants, with nothing to do but stare at the floor.

7:45: The doors open and the mass of mountains surge forward. I search for familiar faces but see none. I stumble to my assigned room: 172. “Hello”, said the nice, blonde lady at the door. I stand there and smile at her. “Uh, ticket please?” I snap out of my trance. “Oh! Right, um, here,” I stuttered, handing her my ticket. “I don’t see your name…”, she said, pointing to the blank line, underneath which the words Student Name were printed. I told my dad I needed my name there! But he said mom knew what she was doing when she filled it out. “Uh, it’s Ca-Carly,” I squeak out. Okay let’s face it. I’m a nervous wreck. After telling me my seat number (18), she lets me in with a smile. Way to make a first impression, Carly.

9:00: After about an hour of questions about the instructions, the test begins. This is where I’m going to need to become very vague, as to not disturb my contract. I can tell you at there are 10 sections. 7 of them 25 minutes, 2 of the 20, and 1 of them 10.

Many long hours later…

2:30: The test is over and I can go home. I’m relieved and happy, but also regretful, knowing that I could have done better. You see, missing a multiple choice answer loses you 1/4 a point but leaving it blank doesn’t count against you. I didn’t realize that until after the test, a.k.a. after I had guessed on about 10 questions. Yay…

Thursday was Halloween and it was amazing! My costume, a Greek goddess, was my best one yet. My friend Lily did an awesome job on both hers and mine (she was Medusa). Lily and I went trick-or-treating with our friend Jane, who didn’t know what she wanted to be so she just wore a colorful wig and we called her….KATY PERRY! But she rocked it. I filled my make-shift candy bag (a Bath and Body Works bag) to the brim.

I’d say it was a rather successful Halloween.

What was your Halloween like? Please comment below!⬇️

Ode to the early mornings and 6 AM meets,
Ode to the inside jokes,
Ode to my second family,
Ode to the loud bus rides,
Ode to the 5K and time trials,
Ode to the locker room,
Ode to after-meet shopping trips with my teammates,
Ode to the power I only feel when I’m running,
Ode to walking the course with my teammates and getting completely lost,
Ode to breaking my record,
Ode to everything I’ve learned and learned to love,
Ode to cross country