1. Make a summer bucket list.
If you make a list, you are more likely to finish what is on it because you will be anxious to cross off as many things as you can. It's a great challenge as well as a little bit of a game.
2. Promise yourself that you are going to try new things.
Don't waste your time doing your normal everyday routines. Change it up -- find new things to do and places to go, and learn something about your hometown that you didn't know before.
3. Spend as much time as you can with your home friends.
You know you are going to miss them once you are back at school. Spend the time that you can with them, because as soon as school hits, you all go your separate ways. Summer is also a good time to plan your yearly trips to each other's school for football games, Halloween, homecoming, or whatever special event your school holds as their own.
4. Enjoy home cooking.
Don't run out for dinner with your friends every night. Not only will it make your mom, dad, or whoever cooks in your household happy, but it will also pay off once the year starts and you are back to eating dorm food with the occasional Starbucks sandwich.
5. Hug your pets.
They miss you when you are gone, almost as much as you miss them. Spend time with them, take them on longer walks, maybe even let them sleep on your bed every once in a while. You will appreciate it when the only animal you have to snuggle with is stuffed.
5. Take a road trip.
Summer is the only time of the year when you have the ability to do things on a whim, without worrying about what exam you have to study for or when your next midterm is. Take advantage: jump in the car and ride to the beach, lake, or whatever summer destination you see fit. You deserve it.
6. Avoid talking about school at all costs.
It is easy to fall into the traps of talking about school while you are still home for the summer. Unless you are talking about how excited you are, then do not bring up your school nerves; they aren't worth racking your brain for the last bits of summer.
7. Just enjoy your time at home, or time at school, without class.
As many of you have realized, home is a novelty -- but so is campus during the summer without the stress of the fall and spring semesters. Wherever you are, enjoy it, because soon enough your head will fill with the hustle and bustle of a new school year, and you will be back to your yearly grind.
No matter what, you should appreciate the summer you have left! Summer is not over....yet.
