I took summer school PE to join an emo band.

Sometimes, the most unexpected choices can lead to the most joyful experiences.

Author

Jenay Zhyrov
September 06, 2024

I haven’t been a serious runner since I was a teenager. Actually…even then, it wasn’t that serious. It was just gym class. 

My classmates and I had to run miles on schoolyard concrete or a dirt track around a football field. Those days were everyone’s least favorite. Yet, my best friend and I made the insane decision to enroll in summer school after our freshman year just so we could skip PE as sophomores.

It’s kind of wild that PE is even an option for summer school. And you might be wondering: why the heck would we volunteer to play sports and run in the heat all day, sacrificing our summer vacation?? 

Instead of another year of PE, we desperately wanted to take a fun elective class called Contemporary Music, where students could practice, write, and perform music together. Dudes rapped and created beats. Metal bands growled. Singer-songwriters strummed their acoustic guitars. 

My bff and I? We joined our older friends’ emo band to cover songs by our music idols like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. I was a newbie bassist (and still own this iconic Pete Wentz bass), while my best friend was our drummer. We played “gigs” at school shows, like Battle of the Bands. Then, when our friends graduated, we started a new band, taking it as far as writing original songs and performing at community events.  

It was hella fun.

Mind you, I’ve been an anxious, spotlight-avoidant girl for most of my life. But, somehow, rocking out with my friends helped me step out of my comfort zone and overcome my stage fright (though…public speaking still stresses me out). When I think about those days, I chuckle at our audacity and how we chose to run those brutal summer miles to have an extra year to make music together. 

Some temporary fear and pain can lead to joy, I guess. 

I never thought I’d make another running-related decision ever again. But I surprised myself this year and ran a 5K race before we moved to Houston. 

Around a year ago, running for maybe five minutes used to feel like I was on my last breath. And it scared me. Where was that girl who ran all day in the sun with her classmates around the basketball courts, through town, across a bridge, and back?

I had two choices: give up or make an effort. Health is wealth, so I chose the latter. 

Little by little, my treadmill runs got easier and longer, the alarming tightness in my chest loosening. Then, last fall, after watching Vadym finish his third Spartan race of the year (I always sat on the sidelines with a book), I felt inspired to challenge myself more.

I confess…running is still not my favorite way to be active. It’s boring. My legs get sore easily. And honestly, I don’t think I actually like it. lol. But I like how it clears my mind and gives me confidence.

After I made the crazy-for-me decision to register for a 5K, I continued my usual strength workouts in the gym and felt a euphoric runner's high when I ran my first two miles without a walk break. I felt it again when I didn’t think I could reach three miles, but did.

So, even though I had to wake up before the crack of dawn for the Melon Dash, it was worth it. While walking to the event from our car, Vadym and I watched the sunrise as hot air balloons drifted in the sky. I got emotional while running alongside 2,000 people with a view of pretty green fields. And a delicious slice of watermelon was waiting for me at the finish line. 

It felt good to participate instead of staying on the sidelines.

You know what? You and I are capable of more than we realize. Sometimes, all it takes is deciding to do ✨the thing✨, having a little audacity, and putting in a bunch of reps to get better at whatever it is. It could be anything: fitness, professional development, arts and crafts, cooking, or styling outfits. 

Whatever tugs at your heart, go do it.

  1. What have you been curious to try but have been hesitant to do?

  2. Why do you want to do it? How could it add to your life in a good way?

  3. What’s one easy action you can take to get started?

📚️ Books

The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros

Before becoming a star romantasy writer, Rebecca Yarros authored heart-wrenching contemporary romances. The Things We Leave Unfinished was the first book of hers I read. Then, when I received The Last Letter as a gift, my best friend warned me it was a tearjerker, so I shelved it for months until I was in the right mood. Beckett, a foster kid turned special ops solider, finds solace in letters from his fallen friend’s sister. Her name’s Ella, and she’s a single mom battling unimaginable family heartache. Bound by a promise to Ella’s brother, Beckett leaves his unit to offer support and fulfill his friend’s dying wish. His tenderness, especially with Ella’s children, makes it impossible not to love his character. I think there’s one too many tragedies in the story, but it’ll stick with me for a long time. 

Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco

This book is deliciously sinful. The dark Prince of Envy battles a deadly curse and participates in a brutal game of riddles, hexed objects, and Underworld politics to save his falling demon court. But when a clue leads him to team up with a mortal artist with a special talent, their teasing games of attraction and secrets complicate things. This story has a little bit of everything for romantasy fans—demon courts, dangerous Fae, and intoxicating vampires. Forewarning: there are a lot of graphic descriptions of debauchery and violence. But it’s fun. 


🎥 Film

This slice-of-life coming-of-age film is set in 2008 Fremont, CA. I was 16 and growing up in the Bay Area that year, so this movie transported me back to that time. The movie takes place during the summer before 13-year-old Chris, aka Wang Wang, starts high school. He has a strained relationship with his mom and older sister while his dad works in Tawain. He hangs out with foul-mouthed knuckleheads. He stalks his crush's Myspace and Facebook pages to adopt her interests as his own in an attempt to impress her. He pretends to be a skateboard filmer to fit in with a group of older kids. He feels out of place and alone. The movie’s tagline is “For anyone who’s ever been a teenager,” and I think it’s spot on. 

This quirky, drama-comedy is about Steven, a creatively blocked composer with an unfinished opera. He’s married to a spiritually conflicted woman who used to be his former therapist and their daughter is coincidentally dating their new housecleaner's son. Steven has an unexpected one-afternoon affair with a romance-obsessed tugboat captain, an experience that inspires his next opera hit. As you can imagine, it’s messy 🚩but it was very amusing and has an unconventional happy ending. 


📺️ TV

I am soooo late to this show (it aired from 2011 - 2018), but I’m having a great time binging it now. It’s a fantasy drama about classic fairy tale characters trapped in the real world without realizing they’re cursed. Regina (aka the Evil Queen) replaced memories of their true identities with new ones, so they’re cluelessly living mundane lives in a fake and magically cloaked town in Maine. The storytelling is very creative, told through parallels between the past and present. And there are so many twists and turns. I’m in season four, which folks on Threads said is when the storylines start to go downhill. But I’m in too deep and have a minor fictional crush on Killian “Hook” Jones.

Documentaries that follow Olympians and Paralympians:

  • Sprint: The World’s Fastest Humans follows the lives of elite sprinters, including Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, as they train to break world records.

  • Simone Biles Rising follows the gymnast as she overcomes personal challenges and becomes the GOAT.

  • Rising Phoenix features elite athletes who have defied all odds. It also shows the evolution of the Paralympics’ movement to challenge perceptions of disability and celebrate human potential. 


Want more recs and mini reviews? Follow along on Instagram and Threads.

👏 watching athletes achieve greatness
🍑 baking peach cobbler
🍴 small dinner parties
💋 Short n’ Sweet on repeat
💗 a fictional text message love story
🧶 crocheting a purse big enough for a book
🇺🇸 Harris-Walz

I can’t say this enough: thank you for reading TYFBH

To help the newsletter blossom:

Thank you, Diane U., for your generous contribution in July!

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