Somehow, summer slipped through your fingers.

You laid down to take a nap in June and when you woke up, suddenly it was August and school was in two weeks.

Sure, you played in the pool, started making up your sleep deficit, and maybe took a cool trip, but... what did you really do this summer?

It seems like every time you open LinkedIn, someone found the internship of a lifetime and had a great time while making tons of money.

Every time you open Instagram, someone else was studying abroad and taking pictures in London and Spain. Every time you open Facebook, a new family member comments on how incredible your cousin is because they graduated high school.

You feel like you didn't really do anything of value and you're in some kind of college rut.

Which makes you pose the question: "Did I really waste my entire summer?"

I'd like to be the voice that tells you "no."

Just like we can't put pressure on ourselves to magically "heal" from the exhaustion of the past school year over the summer, we can't put pressure on ourselves to achieve the world.

Chances are there were no sane means of studying abroad to a chic European destination, working a job that paid major cash, and gaining relevant field experience while truly taking time to disconnect and get back in touch with yourself in three months. If you did somehow find a way, well... you have to tell me your secret.

We don't like admitting it between the pressures of family, social media, and ourselves, but it is completely, 100% OK to have an "average" summer.

With the intimidation of a new semester growing with every passing day, it can be easy to look back on this summer and see it as a total waste of time.

What's harder is pulling the valuable elements of the summer, regardless of how small they seem at first, and recognizing them for what they are.

Did you disconnect from your phone for a week this summer? That's a win.

Have a job (literally any job)? Win.

See a really cute dog? Win.

There is no way to "do" summer.

There is no game to win or competition to try and place in. What matters is if you did something that benefited your own well-being. Did you laugh? Spend time with people you enjoy? Watch a super awesome movie?

Then you did "it." You had a good summer.

Don't let the successes of others make yours seem less important. We're all moving through life on our own paths and at our own speeds and summer is no exception.

It isn't magical unless you make it magical.

It isn't a waste unless you consider it one.