Stage 1: Countdown to Summer
The month before summer begins is nothing if not bittersweet. You can’t wait for finals to be over with. You can’t wait to eat a proper home-cooked meal. You can’t wait to get away from the creepy guy who sits behind you in chem lab. Still, you have no idea how you’re going to live without your best friends for four months. So instead, you convince yourself summer isn’t coming and procrastinate by scrolling through all the pictures and videos you and your friends took that year. You’re not ready for another year of college to be over, but you blink and the year is gone. Your friends packed up and left before you could say three Mississippi.
Stage 2: Reuniting with High School Friends
OH. MY. GAWD. This stage of being home for the summer is your favorite in every way. You revive the old group chat and make plans to see your high school friends again. Amanda has a new boyfriend. Cathy is newly single. Lindsay went a little crazy in college. Gaby went from just getting by in school to sleeping at the library every other day. Your friends have changed. Nevertheless, you love them now more than ever and can’t wait to hear all their stories and make some new memories now that you’re finally together again.
Stage 3: Over It
You just finished binge watching your fourth show on Netflix in just a few weeks. Your mom is done cooking your favorite meals and has opted to feeding you last week’s leftovers. It rains almost every day, so the beach is rarely an option. You fall asleep at 3 a.m., wake up past noon, and take countless naps throughout the day. You miss college. You miss your freedom. You miss your college friends. There’s still over a month left until summer is over, and that just feels like a lifetime. Send help.
Stage 4: Countdown to Fall Semester
There’s just under a week until you’re headed back to college and you’re so excited, you may vomit. Your college friends have revived that group chat and are already making plans for every night in the near future. With just a few days left at home, you shop at your favorite boutiques one last time for those fall game day outfits. You hit the beach for a last minute tan. You say goodbye to your friends and promise to continue to keep in touch. These last few days go by slowly. Days feel like weeks. Your college life feels like a distant dream that’s too good to be true. But guess what? It’s not a dream, and before you know it, summer is over and you’re on your way back.
Stage 5: Back in College
You thought you wouldn’t make it through what felt like the longest summer of your life, but you did. Instead, you look back and realize what a great summer it really was. You appreciate the great times you had with the friends you grew up with. You realize how much you’ll miss your mom’s cooking, even the leftovers. Although you’re ready to begin another amazing year at the school of your dreams, you’ll miss home and realize that the last summer might’ve been one of the best summers of your life. And guess what? You end up counting down the days until next summer sooner than you think.
