So, everyone’s excited because it’s summer now or it will be soon. The days are warming up and the nights are going longer. That feeling of freedom for a few months and relaxation and fun is in the air. The smell of sunscreen and bug spray are inescapable and the excitement about the events of the next three months is tangible.

And sure, all that is great. I love summer. I love not having to go to school every day. I love everything about summer, but most of all, I love the fact that I can do what I want and not have to worry about the stress of school and what I have to pass a class. In fact, I barely even have to stress.

During summer, I don’t have to choose between hanging out with my friends until who knows when in the morning or finishing a paper that’s due in the next few days. I don’t even have to worry about papers.

I can go out for a walk or a hike and not have to worry about the time I’m “wasting” that I should be using for school.

I don’t have to read twelve books in one semester and let my “To Be Read List” grow and grow and grow. I mean, it’s always growing, but at least during summer I can cut down some of it rather than just letting it accumulate.

I have time to enjoy myself rather than always being stressed and having something to do every second of every day.

I have time to focus on myself and what I want to do beyond school.

I have more time to have fun and go to the lake or just sit on the couch with iced coffee and read a book.

I can catch up on all the shows I tried watching on Netflix but failed to during the school year.

I can spend time the way I want to and not worry about my grades suffering or plummeting because I’m not one-hundred percent focused on my education.

I can learn more about my passions or things I am interested in. I can take more pictures. I can write more stories that wouldn’t work for my creative writing classes.

It's summer and it's one the most relaxing times of the year. But before you know it, you won’t have a summer anymore. You will be working a job and it might be a nine to five, and you’ll only have two or three weeks of allotted vacation time.

We don’t have many summers left until the “adult” world takes away that summer feeling of excitement and the scent of sunscreen and bug spray are replaced with the scent of the laundry detergent you are using to wash your work clothes.

This is your summer. So take it and enjoy it. Make the most of it. Do what you want with it. Make sure it’s one that you won’t forget.