Summer is a time where you have no responsibilities, no homework, no essays to write, no worries right?

Well, I still love summer, and don’t ever want it to end, but my summers in high school were drastically different than my summers now in college. Beach days get replaced with internships, and flip flops and friends have to wait until the weekend.

There are certain expectations that we all have going into summer. Some of us even make a list of all the things we are going to do, and as summer gets going, a few get checked off, but most don’t. I’m not blaming anyone, I think its important to try to accomplish everything and anything you want when you have the most time to do it. But somehow, life takes its course and summer gets away from us. I have a love hate relationship with summer, and here is why.

1. Working hard to get the perfect summer body throughout the year is difficult enough. With summer comes travel, laying around at the beach, and eating, a lot. I find I eat more in the summer because I’m bored or I’m on vacation and I can’t pass up that gluten free cupcake shop I have come across. I love the aspect of discovering new places in summer, but how can we restrain ourselves when half of the fun in summer is eating!?
   
2. That book you wanted to start writing, or that closet you wanted to clean out doesn’t happen. Why? I have noticed that it’s so nice to finally have all this free time in summer, but it’s also a curse. I tend to get more done when I have less time, so as soon as you give me four months off of work and sports, it’s all over.
   
3. Summer isn’t just popsicles and pool parties like it was in middle school. Summer becomes consumed with internships, jobs, long hours, and exhaustion at the end of the day. Summers start to foreshadow what life will be like after college graduation, and that is daunting. I have loved starting to dip my toes into the work field, but sometimes I do miss when summer meant no obligations, just childhood fun.
   
   
4. Sometimes you begin to miss college more than home. It can be hard once you feel like college becomes a home away from home. You don’t want to leave your life and friends that you have established at school, but enjoy going home and seeing your high school friends and spending time with family. Sometimes summer feels like forever, but you don’t want to rush back into school work. I try to enjoy the time I have at home because I know that as soon as I go back to school, I will miss it. When I’m home I miss school and vice versa. It’s an endless cycle, but I try to stay in the moment.
   
   
5. Travel dreams and travel realities can be quite different. It’s hard seeing all those travel bloggers and Instagramers post their amazing photos from all over the world. We want to go everywhere, and whether its money, or time, or obligations, our fairytale travel trip goes poof. I’m thankful for any trips I get to take in the summer, whether they are small or big, but I understand the frustration of wanting to see, accomplish, explore, and live as much as you can in the summer.

I love you summer, and I truly am thankful for you. As we get older, yes summer does change. I hope that I still can take advantage of every opportunity I get, even though life sometimes gets in the way. So I encourage each and every one of you to do what you can to make the most of summer, whatever position and stage of life you may be in.

See that museum, take that weekend trip even though its not to the Amalfi Coast. There will always be higher hopes for summer, but take control of the things you can, and let go of the things you can’t.