Written by Kaya van der Horst Only three weeks into school and my life has already become swamped with work. Every hour seems to be filled with an important task, and the relaxation of summer appears to have vanished. The former peace and quiet at 7 a.m. is now filled with my ringing alarm clock,...

When I was little, there was a period of time during the summer, after our family vacation but before school started, when my brother and I had absolutely nothing to do. It was 2008 and my family had just moved to Palo Alto, so my mother decided to seize this opportunity for me to make friends and...