Summer vacation has been the best time of our lives since we started school. It's always been the three month break we look forward to all year long... until college, that is. That's not to say college students don't look forward to summer, because we definitely do. Summer in college is just a very different experience than it has been our whole lives leading up to now.
In high school, summer means a break from school altogether. In college, summer means more classes. Some of us are lucky and we get to study abroad over the summer. Organic chemistry doesn't seem quite so intimidating when you're studying while sipping wine in Arezzo. For those of us who have to stay within the confines of either our college town or our hometown, summer just means a slightly smaller course-load.
In high school, summer means you get to spend all your time with your friends. You get to see your friends in college, as well, but it's a little more difficult. Some of us get apartments or houses near campus, but some of your friends will be spending their summer at home. You also don't have as much free free time in college because you're almost always busy with other things.
In high school, you get a summer job as a cashier or server just so you have some extra cash. In college, your paychecks go towards rent, bills, and groceries. Instead of having extra money to spend on new clothes and dinners with friends, the majority of your money goes towards just keeping yourself alive.
In high school, you go on vacation with your family. Once you get to college, you could go on a family vacation, but the real fun starts once you save up enough money to travel with your friends. You all pool your money together to pay for one tiny hotel room for far too many people and somebody inevitably ends up sleeping in the bathtub, but nobody cares because you're spending all your time drinking fruity drinks on a beach somewhere with all your best friends. It's a time for you to pretend you know how to adult enough to spend a week in Mexico with no supervision.
While high school summer seems like the epitome of fun and relaxation, we all have to grow up at some point. We eventually trade in our days waiting tables for days interning at our dream company. We might not be quite so carefree as adults, we find that we would much rather be broadening our horizons studying biology in Italy than spending a week at Disneyworld with our parents. Adulthood isn't all fun and games, but a summer spent adulting is much more rewarding.
