I remember my parents taking me to many different events as a kid. We weren’t a museum-going family, but my parents really enjoyed going to outdoor, cultural events and festivals. Since spring is in full effect – especially here in New York – and summer is on the way, here are some ideas for some cool events (or types of events) to check out in the Metropolitan area.

- Summer concert and book reading series at the Bronx Zoo (free with admission): http://ow.ly/1zsku
- My Garden Pets exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden: http://ow.ly/1zsn7
- Family Spring events at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (most are free after admission): http://ow.ly/1zsso
- Diabetes: A Deeper Look at the Liberty Science Center (Jersey City, NJ): http://ow.ly/1zswb

What are your favorite spring/summer field trips or family day trips?

If there is anything cuter than a bunch of kids singing together, it’s probably only a bunch of kids singing one of my current favorite songs, “Lisztomania,” by the French band Phoenix. Or, maybe even cuter than that is a bunch of kids in an auditorium singing “The Eye of the Tiger.” The kids of PS 22 are getting a lot of media attention and celebrity support. This past March, the PS 22 Chorus was invited to perform for the NY Rangers and they were featured on ABC Nightline last July. I think the concept is brilliant and hopefully more schools will take a shot at the “modern” glee club idea.

PS 22 Chorus \"Lisztomania\" on YouTube

I may be a bit behind, but the kids still deserve some credit. I can’t wait to see who else they cover!

For more information, check out their blog at: http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/

The thing that worries me the most is not if I am going to be alive tomorrow, if there is a heaven or a hell or the fact that there could be life on other planets. The thing that worries me and scares me to death is college. I think that every student who is in high school and thinking about going to college is worried about it. In the instant that I think about college a bunch of questions come to my mind; am I going to be able to pay for college? Are college teachers different from high school teachers? Do teachers care about our education or they just care about earning money? Every person I talk to, they tell me not to worry but that’s just like telling water to not be wet.

Darwin is Speakaboos’ high school intern. Please leave your college advice in the comments section!

The first time I went to the circus I was about 5 years old. I saw all these amazing people doing all these cool things that, in some way, scared me because I had never seen them before. Because their faces were painted and they were dressed up kind of funny, I thought they were aliens–since at that age that was the only explanation I had of why they could do all this amazing stuff like jumping from one rope to another while someone was holding their hands. I told my mom and dad that I wanted to leave because I got a “little” scared. They made me stay until the end of the show. One of the people who worked at the circus was a friend of my dad so at the end of the show we went to see him. I hid behind my mom’s back. My dad’s friend, Jeraldo, grabbed me and put me on his shoulders. At that time I had lost my fear because I realized that he was a person just like me or anyone else.

Darwin is Speakaboos’ high school intern. Check back next Tuesday for his next entry!

Meet Darwin, Speakaboos’ high school intern. Darwin is from the Dominican Republic, and is a particularly ambitious 11th grader.

Darwin’s school, the International High School at Lafayette in Brooklyn, encourages its students to reach out to different activities outside of the classroom, and requires all students to take on an internship for 12 weeks during 11th grade.

So far Darwin has been a big help around the office, and as a part of his internship tasks, we’ve asked him to contribute to our blog so that our users can get a taste of his unique perspective. Here’s what he has to say:

Lives of Teenagers – by Darwin

Many adults think that they are the only ones who have issues in their lives. My name is Darwin, I’m sixteen years old and I’m a high school student. Sometimes I wonder why adults think that only their lives are tough. If you are an adult, you should know that we also have our own problems. Let me tell you my story.

Every Monday and Wednesday I have to wake up at 6am so I will have time to take a shower, eat breakfast and arrive to school just in time.

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I have to wake up at 5:30am in order to go to College Now. College Now is program inside and outside school, which provides me with college credits without having to pay for the classes given. Teachers give us the same stuff that they would give to a college student. One of the classes that I am involved in is sociology, which is a pretty interesting subject that helps me understand more how society works.

Because I want as much college credit as I can before I get to college, I’m also involved in another College Now class in Kingsborough Community College (KCC) called BEH70. This class is kind of similar to the other class that I am studying except that in this class I am suppose to investigate any topic I want and at the end we will put it in a science competition. This class is offered every Thursday from 2:40pm- 7:20pm. The BEH70 course lasts until my senior year and the sociology one will end around June. Hopefully, in total, I will receive 11 college credits at the end of these classes. If I decide to drop out of the classes, I won’t receive any credits at all, no matter how much work and effort I put in the classes.

Because I am in 11th grade, my school requires all of us students to start going to internships. Right now I am working for Speakaboos, which is one of the best internship sites someone could ever have. At the end of every week we are expected to have worked 12 hours. At the end of the school year we are expected to have a worked 144 hours.

When I have homework from both College Now courses and my high school it’s a nightmare for me, the only problem is that I am awake! I remember the first time I stayed up until 4am to complete all my homework–I had to wake up at 5:30am.

And to think that many adults think that they are the only ones with busy lives.

Check back next Tuesday for more from Darwin