So you’ve just finished your first year of college, and that was a wild ride from start to finish. It seems like right after getting adjusted to life on campus, classes end and you get thrown back into your life at home. But you might not expect everything to be changed when you arrive back.
Typical of almost any summer, you sweat the whole three months which make them seem much more uncomfortable than needed. The heat waves roll off the pavement and the A/C anywhere is always on high. You wish for a few weeks ago when it was cold enough for you to wish for warm weather. However, the weather might be the only thing that’s stayed the same.
Your hometown itself seemed to have gotten smaller. The same roads you used to drive down every day now feel narrow and cramped. All your old friends from high school are excited to see you again, but it can get a little hard to find time to see everyone. Going back and reuniting with the same few people you used to hang out with and not the thousands of people you see on campus has the ability to make your town seem tiny, even if you used to think it was huge.
There have been changes in your house that you maybe were a little surprised to see. Whether it’s your sister taking over the entire bathroom or your family using your bedroom as a storage area, it’s always got to be something. Coming back to a different home environment is probably just a stepping stone to every other change going on.
It doesn’t matter their relation to you, every single person you run into asks how college is going, where you’re working at, what your career plans are, and if you have a significant other yet. Occasionally, you don’t get to finish one sentence before they ask the next question.
Leading off of that, if you haven’t gotten a job secured for the summer, that’s the first thing on your to-do list. College can get very expensive so you've got to have something to help supplement that cost, nevermind if you want to go on a night out with your friends or even pay for gas. No more summers off for you, it's time to take your first steps into the real world.
In high school, once summer started you stopped thinking about school altogether. Now, you still think about school all the time. Is your schedule going to be okay next year? What gen ed credits do you still need? What do you still need to buy for your dorm or apartment in the fall? And if you're taking summer classes, just forget it. Hundreds of miles away from campus, school somehow manages to creep into your life and take over your thoughts.
It might feel hectic and incredibly different right now, but you won't get many more of these summers before you have to start your real career and enter the work-fore full time, all year around, so don't take them for granted!
