The past few semesters that I’ve been in college, smothered in assignments, projects, homework, etc., it never dawned on me how fast the semesters were flying by. When I began my freshman year, it felt like winter break smacked me in the forehead, and I was prepping for finals.

Now, I’m in the summer of my sophomore year, about to become a junior! Cliché as it is, time is flying by and I feel as if I have not truly enjoyed it enough. I want to experience life, not just live it, or even live it vicariously through other people.

While these should be my prime years, I’m slaving by working relentlessly in and outside of school. And honestly? I believe I owe it to myself to enjoy my young life. So, I’ve made a summer bucket list. Not only will I feel fulfilled for actually completing something, but I will have fun doing it.

1. Road trip to Austin

My trip to Austin has been long awaited. One of my very close friends even goes to school there, so it gives me all the more reason to go there and experience that bolstering city of art, music, and all things all peculiar.

2. Start my highly anticipated book

I swear I’ve been saying I’m going to write a book since I first learned how to write. Being in college where I take classes specific to my development and critiquing my craft has made me all the more excited to start it. I don’t know if I want to write a collection of poetry, a memoir or a novel. I suppose I just have to let me pen flow.

3. Watch a movie at a drive-in theater

I am an aesthetic junkie, and nothing screams aesthetic like a drive-in movie. Sure, movie theatres these days grant you the luxury of extremely comfortable, reclining chairs and air conditioner, but you can’t tell me that sitting in the back of a truck with a ton of blankets and pillows doesn’t sound as almost equally rewarding.

4. Take my dog to the beach

There are so many movies where I see puppers running freely in the at the beach sand and diving into the ocean with their ears flopping in the wind. They’re unconstrained and simply happy. Not to say that my doggo isn’t happy, but I would love to see her that happy.

5. Make the perfect summer playlist

Generally, I'm just too lazy to make playlist. I always have a specific type of music I want to listen to when I’m working out, studying, or writing, yet I simply end up shuffling through my songs like an animal. The solution is clear: muster the patience to create a worthy playlist, but again, I’m lazy. Nonetheless, I’ll put my soul into this one.

6. Capture the highlights of my summer through pictures and create a scrapbook

Yes, I’m going to say it: A picture is worth a thousand words. When I look at those pictures, I want to be able to relive the moments of my adventurous summer and share them with the people that I experienced it with.

7. Learn to swim

Do you remember when y’all were little and the whole family went to the pool and one of them pushed you into the deep end to “teach” you how to swim? Yeah, I never learned. I’m not even afraid to go to the pool, I just think because I’m insanely short that every time I go to five feet I’m going to drown. So, I will dedicate a little time to learn how to swim!

8. Invest in a typewriter and a record player

I question the writer that doesn’t own a typewriter. Even if its just for decoration, or its stored away in some old dusty box in storage. A typewriter can serve as muse to write for a specific setting in a story, or just give a certain aesthetic to a book you’re creating. But I’ve wanted a typewriter since I was in the fourth grade. It's practically a writer’s dream.

9. ...and a record player

I guess I’m just from another time. Some artists like Leon Bridges and Lana Del Rey have a sound that simply won’t be appreciated unless its played on the media its intended for. I am also a fan of old r&b, jazz, hip hop, rap etc. which should also be captured on records, the original medium they were created. Not as files played on CD’s, nor through Bluetooth speakers.

10. Grow a windowsill garden

I guess I get my green thumb from grandma. Ever since I was a child, she’s always had a house full of beautiful green ivories, aloes, rubber figs, etc. She’s the reason why I love plants and flowers, and now that I’ll have my own apartment, I also aspire to have a mini jungle of my own.

Windowsill gardens are minimalistic, but also easy to maintain, and can quickly make an empty space feel like home.

11. Go Camping

It's probably my fear of watching Friday the 13th, and seeing bears and mountain lions maul people to death that has me so reluctant to do this. But I’ve always wished to go camping with my friends and do all the cliché things you see people doing in movies like making smores and telling stories around a campfire. I'd like to do all this without starting a forest fire, getting lost, or getting killed by any of the three I mentioned above.

12. Master the art of crocheting

My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was about nine years old, and since then, I’ve loved it. It's relaxing and quite therapeutic, so I’m going to pick back up on my once fun hobby!

My summer bucket list doesn’t consist of much, and it may not even seem all that exciting, but I know I’ll have fun doing it. It’s better than letting another summer slip away by mindlessly working. Create your own bucket list full of things you wish to do. It can be small like this one, or it can be on a larger scale. Nonetheless, just carpe diem that shit.