Although many students are bummed-out after the conclusion of a spring semester, they tend to quickly dismiss those sad feelings with the anticipation of a great summer. But, is summer ever really that great? There's one obvious reason why students are dying to get back to school by August: Summer expectations are always vastly different than reality.
Here are a few of what I like to call "The Stages of Summer."
The Pre-Summer Break:
The anticipation: You start hitting up all of your girls/bros from back home, and talk about how as soon as everyone is back, summer is going to get really crazy really fast. Plans are already in the works, and even mid-finals, everyone starts to get a little pumped. You and your friends collectively agree that schoolwork sucks, and that there's just no place like home.
What actually happens: The day you get home, nine of your 10 best friends are still at their respective schools taking finals. So, your new best friends for the week become your bed and Netflix. You start sleeping and snacking in order to keep yourself busy, while also repeatedly asking yourself when it'll be time to hit the gym. But you shrug it off and just think, 'No biggie, this won't last for too long. Everyone will be home soon and then things will get crazy, right..?'
The Summer Break Plans:
The anticipation: Everyone's finally back home and talking about what the plan is for tonight. It is collectively decided that the new bar in town would be a cool place to get everyone together again. After a decent night filled with things you probably don't even want to remember, you're really hyped about being back home. From here, you begin to build on your expectations for the next round of drinks.
What really happens: It's been over a week, and there still hasn't been that “next round." Suddenly, everyone is bailing on plans or going home at 10 p.m. because they need to wake up early for an internship, need to get breakfast with their grandmother, or they're just simply too tired. Too tired? You begin to question whether or not anyone else noticed that everyone went home at midnight that one time plans didn't fall through. You ask yourself where your real party people are at, and then you remember: you're not at school.
The Summer Break Diet:
The anticipation: After a little while, your GroupMe starts buzzing, and the conversation revolves around two words: Bikini season. Naturally, you and your closest friends begin to plan hikes, Pilates classes, and maybe even a juice cleanse. This isn't necessarily because you want to do these things, but because you know its just part of what you and your friends have always attempted to do in the summer. 'This is the year,' you tell yourself. Looking good and feeling good becomes an appealing summer goal for everyone.
What really happens: Before you know it, you're eating froyo out of boredom and taking late-night trips to McDonald's after a night out because you “really deserve it this time." You stop going to the gym because you keep sleeping in too late, and the idea of taking workout classes becomes laughable considering you can barely manage to walk your dog. Your lowest point is when you find yourself wondering if it would be mildly inappropriate to start ordering pizzas at one o'clock in the morning for every movie night that you and your friends have.
The 'Screw Summer Break':
This is where all of your anticipation has completely flown out of the window. You're no longer trying to convince yourself that being home and not having any work to do is better than being at school, because it's just not. You've taken note of the fact that everything you said you were going to do this summer is, in fact, not done (and your mother reminds you of it every day). You're disgusted with how lazy you've become overall, yet still have no motivation to leave the couch. Finally, you reduce to spending much of your time reflecting on how much fun the school year had been; versus how much fun you're having now. You spend the next few weeks (and maybe the rest of summer) wishing that August would arrive just a little sooner.
