Being one of the unfortunate students to take summer classes at Rutgers, my school year did not officially end until this past Wednesday. I watched various Instagram and Snapchat stories of being exploring the world and enjoying time with beloved ones throughout June while I was stuck in my room reading about the beautiful world that is accounting. My head occasionally reminded me that that I had to take these summer classes for my academic success, but my heart constantly ached to be with my friends having fun.
However, a few days after my last summer class, and I feel bored as if I have already done everything fun possible - what I was so reminiscent about for an entire month was well into the past. Laying in my bed, I came to the realization that it wasn't just my desire that vanished so suddenly, but that it was also my work ethic. Sure, using some time to rest from the physical and mental pain of school was definitely necessary. But soon enough I found myself lazing around the house with nothing to do. The constantly grind and live-to-work mentality that I worked so rigorously to maintain for 10 months was gone.
It was this feeling of not doing anything that gnawed at my conscience. The value I was producing from my time and energy, to me, was poor at best, and I knew this fact very well. Unfortunately, the more days I rested, the more I fell into a sense of complacency where I gradually started to feel okay about not doing anything beneficial for myself.
Realizing the productive habits I was losing and the ample amount of time I had on my hands, I forced myself back onto the grind. One day, I left my cell phone or laptop at home and headed over to a library with an Elementary to Spanish learning book. It was so difficult and tempting to simply walk over to one of the computers at the library and quickly check my messages and email, but I forced myself to glue my physical and mental energy onto Spanish. I went home that day with feelings that felt like home - the personal sense of entering back into the work mentality that I once proud myself in.
At the end of the day, our time is very limited, and you'll soon find yourself going back to school for another semester or even starting your new job come September. As such, the precious summer time we have should be used to gain as much as we want, respectively, Whether that be learning a new language or traveling the world, there are infinite amount of activities to do and enjoy, or else we will find ourselves regretting the complacency we enacted upon ourselves.
