We can't all be the Bridget's, Lena's or Carmen's of the group. Sometimes you have to be the Tibby. Fasten your seat belts, this is about to be a sassy and cynical ride.

Last spring as I packed up my dorm room, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first summer at home after college. I felt wary of how long three months seemed and wasn’t sure about how I was going to fill all that time. But mostly I was just super relieved to have the stressful, sleepless finals week over and I couldn’t wait to be back sleeping in my own room. But alas, one cannot live on the joy of home-cooked meals, driving your own car, and snuggling with your pets forever. 

My own summer was marred by getting knee surgery to fix my torn ACL. Spending the entire first two months of summer on crutches, wearing a full-leg brace and working to fix a severe limp was a little rough. Two days after I got home I went from complete independence to complete dependence on my parents to help me get in and out of bed and drive me to physical therapy where seeing my cute physical therapist was clearly the highlight of my week. All while it seemed like my friends were off having the times of their lives. That being said, I hope you all have had much better times. But I think the general consensus of most people I’ve talked to is that this summer has just been a little underwhelming. To quote a friend last weekend “I guess it’s good that I’ve come back and had this experience so now I know to never do it again. At least I don’t have to wonder.” While there have definitely been lots of fun times, the following are my reflections on the past few months as a whole.

• Summer is super duper fun in high school. Compared to the structure and extra-curriculars of the regular school year it seemed like the freedom was endless. In college you already eat, sleep, hang out with friends, and watch Netflix whenever you want so the novelty has already worn off a little bit. 
• Planning ahead and working hard to make social plans kind of sucks. In college there is always something to do and always someone to do it with, you just need to walk down the hall or head to happy hour and you’ll be instantly and effortlessly surrounded by people you know and hearing the news of what’s going on over the weekend. Even eating in the dining hall can lead to an impromptu social gathering. At home (and in the real world unfortunately), you have to contact people directly in advance to make plans which requires actual effort, and half the time the texting conversations usually go a little like “Do you want do something next Friday night?”-“Yeah sure like what?”-“I don’t know". What do you want to do?”-“I don’t know.” It’s exhausting and makes you really appreciate the days when you just go flop on your suitemate’s bed and plans magically appear. 
• Trying to discern if your parents actually are cool with you drinking and partying now. So yeah I’m going out now… I guess you don’t really need to know where I’m going, who with, and when I’m coming home anymore. To be honest it feels pretty weird. 
• Sometimes going to work is the best part of your week. In retrospect, it’s completely shocking but thank the lord you have a reason to put makeup on and get out of the house
• You find yourself regressing in maturity a bit. Being cooped up at home with your parents all summer makes you a little stir crazy. Somehow you find yourself slamming doors and muttering under your breath like your fifteen again.  It’s amazing the reaction a mother telling you to clean your room brings. No matter how chill and mature you’ve gotten in a year away, those certain things still just drive you crazy.
• Small talking with people you barely knew in high school is the worst. “Hi how’s your summer?” “Fine, how’s yours?” “Fine.” Oh my god shoot me now. ·
• Being ignored by people you thought were semi-friends in high school is the worst. Dude we’ve had classes since the sixth grade, and the amount of effort you’re putting into avoiding any form of eye contact is really irritating me right now. Is this really less awkward than a polite conversation? To be honest there’s really no right answer here.
• You run into friends of your parents who seem to know all sorts of things about you. Yes I do love school, yes I am a political science major, yes I sure have grown up… Now how do I know you again?
• Sometimes your home friends don’t come home from the summer. Seriously guys where was the memo on that? I thought it was assumed that we all come home after the first year. Why would y’all want to go off to camp, stay at school, travel and have generally life-changing summers after the spectacular incentives for staying I’ve already listed? But the mini-reunions when they're home for a few days are the absolute best
• Your Facebook friends all seem to be having the coolest summers ever. Summer envy is a very real thing and you will spend most of your time on social media feeling incredibly lame. 
• By August you cannot freaking wait to go back to school. Even schoolwork sounds pretty good because then at least I’m doing something with my life. And now I have friends at school to look forward to seeing again. What could be better?