As the spring semester comes to an end, us students enter our summer break with the same mindset: to make the next couple of months memorable, fun, and better than any other summer before. School comes to an end, our break begins, and soon we fall back into the same cycle of unproductive relaxation. Our generation seems to blur the line between taking a break from stress and wasting our time. For the students that work hard to earn money through the entire break, they miss the whole relaxation idea completely and summer becomes more laboring than calming. These two extremes that young adults resort to during this break from school restrain us from seeking a fulfilling, balanced, and not so bummer summer.

Summer 2016 is among us. Let's dive in head first to opportunity, self growth, productivity, and good times.

It's important that we understand the concept we've heard a million times: work hard, play hard. Don't allow yourself to sleep in until two in the afternoon every day and miss hours of the summer you have deserved to enjoy. Give yourself a schedule, especially if you work hard at a job, that gives you time for you. This time should not be spent constantly at a job or constantly in bed, but these moments dedicated to you should be for the bettering of yourself and your happiness. Instead of burdening yourself with endless work hours, give yourself a break to exercise, make your own favorite meal, enjoy the weather and do activities that feed your soul.

A great method to make your summer better than ever is to make a summer bucket list. Go to a drive-in movie, visit a museum, fly a kite, learn yoga and have fun doing it. These few months are free of school for a reason. Use them to your advantage to grow as an individual. Your successes that you experience during this time will reflect upon your schoolwork and your goals next semester. Since your focus at the moment is not on your next exam, allow it to be on yourself.

Do not allow laziness to be a synonym for relaxation. Productivity is possible while you try to relieve stress. Although a nice Netflix break is acceptable every once in a while, the world around us is much bigger than your 20-inch television screen. Your life is a fullscreen live show that is meant to be full of experience, change, and surprises. Use the world around you to tend to your needs this summer. Get out of the house, into society, and make something of your break from endless assignments.

How will you make your summer anything but a bummer?