When you stay at school over the summer, you get to experience your University during all four seasons — and when you're in Michigan, that means a lot.

You will walk down your street, in your college town, or city, or on your campus in snow up to your knees, in wind that just about knocks you over, in rain that seems to only pour for the few minutes you're outside, through autumn leaves that you'll slip on despite their beauty, and alas — if you decide to endure a complete year at school — in sweltering heat.

There isn't anything quite like my college town in the summer — I'm sure it's like that in a few places — but for me and many of my friends, it's just about the best place you could be.

For the beginning portion of summer, which starts at the beginning of May for my school, I decided it would be a good idea to take a summer class — big mistake. But alas, I got to experience my school in the "spring" term — after 80 to 85 percent of the student body has left, and yet, the campus is not nearly as deserted as you might think.

It's incredibly beautiful outside; the sun beats down and the sky is blue — something we can hardly imagine in the negative degree days that offer an abundance of snow and sleet. The Diag is complete with students and their friends, families, camps and outdoor events — concerts, movies and performances if you're around for the annual spring festival.

But still, for that first chunk of time, I was in school, and so I continued to associate my street, my everyday walk and my college campus, in all its glory, with the stress of studying.

My street, for one thing, is completely torn up due to construction. Atop my apartment complex, I can hear the sounds of the machines and workmen early in the morning. It contrasts with the yelling and booming from the bars and clubs that prevails the rest of the year — and still in the summer.

I have to walk around several construction cones, through dirt and past large equipment to even make it across my street. It's frustrating, and my roommates and I complain about it a lot.

Still, though, it's home now — at all times of the year. It's weird having my school as my homebase and not my hometown.

I recognize the same people walking to school and work every day, and I know exactly what to order at all of the restaurants. After all, they have gradually come to provide my "homecooked" meals.

I watch my street evolve and the sun rise and set at different times during the summer. The atmosphere has changed this time of year, but I know the space so well that it’s hard to forget struggling home through the bitter winter air on a late night in January or running to class when I’ve overslept on a fall morning.

All of that still exists, though. It's like a cycle. I can walk down my street perfectly content, but still I know I will again shuffle my feet as I walk to face my doom at another exam.

I have come to know my street, and school, very well and at all different times of the year. It can be a lot to endure, but still, I find it endearing.