For those who have taken introduction to psychology, the term SAD should be familiar. SAD is defined as seasonal defective disorder. This is a type of depression that lasts for a season, most often during the winter months. This would make sense because winter time is cold, dark, and lifeless; but the summer can be just as lonesome as winter.

There are so many things to look forward to in the summer: sunshine, lake/ocean days, and ice cream. However, there are many other factors to consider in the summer; especially if you are a college student. Summer doesn't have lecture halls and study groups, but it does have jobs and working hours. Having a summer job is the one thing on students mind when February starts to roll around. Many types of questions are thought of as the job search begins. What type of job should I get? How will this look on my resume? How does this relate to my field of study? Will this make me stand out?

Summer turned from the best time of the year to the busiest time of the year. Since when do I care more about my job resume than spending time with my family or friends? This shows how fast we grow up and how our priorities change.

The job can also be surprising. The jobs that are supposed to be helpful to future careers turn out to very boring or unfulfilling. After a while, we begin to loose sight of why we are staying at this job because the future begins to grow into a faint picture. Staying on track to reach the goals we want can become very exhausting.

Summer also consists of moving away. As a college student, there will be the ones who move to their college town for the summer and those who go back to their home town. The ones who stay in their college town realize that they are the only ones who are now living in the town; or so it would seem. Paying for their own food, rent, and fun instead of being taken care of by parents. What turns out to be the most grown up thing to do turned into an adult life.

This is coming from personal experience. As a student from the University of North Dakota, there is not much to do in the town to begin with. There was excitement in the move. I was going to be paying the bills, having a job to help my career, and going about at my own schedule. However, I soon realized that I was the only person who made this decision. All of my new friends went back home while all of my old friends went back to my hometown.

My life went from study hall friends and phone calls to friends on the other side of the country to job, job, job. Last summer was not my most memorable, but I know it helped me grow. Do I wish that I could spend more days at the lake and with old friends hiking? ABSOLUTELY! However, I do want to reach my long term goal and to get there, I need to remember to start at the bottom. I do wish that starting at the bottom didn't have to be during the summer.

I have learned how important it is to find a balance during the summer. I can still take a trip with friends or if I have to volunteer, volunteer at a place where I can also have fun. Don't over work yourself. Yes, being a college student means that you are broke, but you can't just focus your life on working. You will work off the debts, it may take a while, but don't let it control your everyday life.

My goal this summer is to have it be more memorable. This includes both working at my job but also remembering to have some fun.