Every summer I make a "bucket list." Past items on the said list have included trying my hand, and balance, at aerial yoga (disclaimer: I looked NOTHING like the header photo of this article), learning to sew (remarkably painful), and launching an original fashion label (the most successful of my summer ventures to date.)

I have accomplished nearly every goal on these bucket lists, throwing myself wholeheartedly into various activities, some of which have even become passions. However, two tasks remain, woefully, annually undone.

Since watching the Lizzie McGuire Movie at the age of seven (tbh, it's still one of my favorites), I have wanted to learn Italian. Though it makes up twelve percent of my heritage, the language seems to me the most beautiful in the world. The summer I was fifteen, I achieved a very minimal proficiency. By the summer I was sixteen, I had forgotten most of my vocabulary and thus began the process again.

Secondly, I would like to clean my bedroom. I want to collect the souvenirs from my floor and compile them in a scrapbook, hang Polaroids documenting my adventures from string lights above my bed, and paint my walls navy blue. In essence, I want a room worthy of Tumblr. Nevertheless, clothing from my failed experimentation with a sewing machine lays heaped on the chair by my bed, photos sit in stacks on my dresser, and my walls remain the baby pink of my youth.

Perhaps it's true, as some have said, that I should have looked for a steady job that might afford me opportunities later in life, but I have found much more fulfillment working at my yoga studio and interning at a fashion blog.

After all, my summers have not been focused on earning money, but rather on discovering what makes me happiest, whether that is participating in running races, devouring each new Jodi Picoult novel, or photographing the places that, and people who, bring the most joy into my life.

As this summer approaches, think about what you really want to accomplish. Got it? Now, go out and do it.