In this summary, the student describes a two-week road trip through six European countries with their family over the summer before their senior year of high school. Some of the highlights mentioned include visiting Paris, France and being awestruck by the Eiffel Tower, traveling to Jungfrau, Switzerland and experiencing the beautiful mountains and chocolate shops, and following the Rhine River through Germany. The student expresses their excitement and gratitude for being able to visit Europe and see famous sites they had been dreaming about.

1. Heralding the Valley’s youth
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2013 • SECTION D • YAKIMAHERALD.COM
Sixcountries,aweddingandarollercoaster
Photos by JASMINE RANDHAWA/East Valley High School
Tourists enjoy the elegantly designed buildings in Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium.
E
very other summer my
parents make sure that
the family does something
extremely fun. In the summer
of 2011, we all went to India
for six weeks, driving around with
about 20 family
members, all
across northern
India.
This past
summer, my
parents decided
to surprise me
with my dream
trip: a road trip
in Europe for two
weeks! My parents
know how much I
love to travel and
that the one place
I have always
wanted to go to was Europe. Since it
is my senior year in high school, my
parents decided to celebrate with
a road trip through six European
countries, including a visit to
England for my cousin’s wedding.
Our plane left the Yakima
airport on Aug. 5 and we landed in
Heathrow, England, on Aug. 6. It
was noon by the time we arrived,
and I was dead tired — not because
of jet lag but because of the four
movies I watched and constant
game playing during the 16-hour
flight.
The sightseeing portion of
the trip wasn’t going to start in
England, but in France. So we
took a ferry to Calais, France. The
following are highlights from the
trip:
• Aug. 7 — We woke up early to
drive to Paris. Every building we
saw during that four-hour drive (it
took an extra 90 minutes because
we got lost) had an elegant design
and it all seemed like it was out of
a romantic movie.
The first tourist spot we went
to was the Eiffel Tower. It was
breathtaking. It was a bit hard to
believe that I was standing right
underneath the one place I have
been dreaming of since I was 12,
and it still hasn’t completely sunk
in that I was there. The lawn area
was quite large but it was covered
in beer bottle caps and cigarette
stubs. Welcome to France.
After a long but fun day roaming
around Paris, we spent one more
night in France. I really didn’t
want to leave, but we were going
to Switzerland the next morning,
and I had heard some pretty great
things about the Swiss chocolate
and was full-on ready to get
diabetes.
• Aug. 8 — When we finally got
to Jungfrau, Switzerland, we saw
another breathtaking view: The
mountains surrounding us were
sharp, steep and bright green. Our
GPS from the car led us to a little
village at the top of a mountain
where there were hotels and small
shops.
After going through many,
many gift shops, we finally found a
chocolate shop. It was heaven. We
ended up buying a big bag of hand-
selected, freshly made chocolate,
which we finished within 10
minutes.
Out of all the countries I have
ever been to, Switzerland was the
most expensive. All the souvenirs
that we had bought were about four
times more expensive than any
other place we had shopped during
the trip.
We ended up driving to and
spending the night at a hotel in
Hegau, Germany, which had the
nicest staff and people I have
probably ever met.
• Aug. 9 — The next morning
we drove to the Rhine Valley, and
followed the Rhine River through
Germany. It was nice to go to a
Summer houses lined up along side the mountain in Jungfrau,
Switzerland.
Cross-continent vacation takes
senior to Europe’s most famous sites
Jasmine
Randhawa
SEE EUROPE PAGE 6D
Jobshadowoffersinsideperspectiveofveterinaryclinic
T
he first thing I did was put on
the mask and pinch its wire
brim over my nose.
We were in one of the
surgery rooms in
the corner of the
clinic, and the
doctor and his
assistant were
preparing to spay
a dog. The ovaries
of the dog would
be removed,
thus making her
sterile.
As the
procedure took
place, I watched
as each step
was carefully
performed. Aug. 26 was not only
the day before school started, but
also when I was able to witness a
surgery.
I was excited to see this surgery
because of an interest that began
last year, when I started watching a
TV show called “The Doctors” after
school. Some of the stories they
reported were incredible.
On Aug. 26, I was able to see
surgery and understand the
precision and speed needed,
since animals should be under
anesthesia for as little time as
possible. I then watched the
animals as they woke up. One of
the most fascinating and rewarding
parts of this job shadow was
watching each animal become
strong enough to cough their
anesthesia tube out, and to return
to normal sleep.
The Thursday before, Aug. 22,
I arrived at the Yakima Valley
Veterinary Clinic at about 8 a.m.
Dr. Julie Young, 37, was the veteri-
narian I was shadowing for the day.
Immediately after arriving, I
was given a smock and a mask to
wear if needed. I then received
a tour of the facility. The center
of the clinic is the largest room,
containing the main area for
viewing animals. Separate viewing
rooms are in other parts of the
building.
Along the sides of the room are
areas where dental cleaning and
work such as tooth extractions
occur, and on the ceiling are tubes
to which anesthesia machines
are connected. The back of the
room also has machines for
blood samples and other testing
equipment. I was able to see a
room designated for euthanasia,
AVA GEMPLER/Davis High School
A dog lies in a recovery kennel after surgery on Aug. 26 at the
Yakima Valley Veterinary Clinic.
Ava
Gempler
SEE VET PAGE 6D