Every year around late April, college students prepare themselves for summer break. Talk around campus turns to discussions of beaches, trips to Mexico, and even jobs. Everyone is burned out from a long eight or one months of classes, tests, papers, and projects and people are ready for summer to begin. That last exam in May is met with collective sighs of relief.
Well, that wasn't me, at least to this year. I was originally supposed to graduate in May of 2018, three months ago. Due to some personal issues, I took a semester off during my sophomore year as well as only taking four classes the following semester. I realized after much thought over the last year that I was part of the class of 2018 and wanted to stay that way. For that reason, I made the decision to attend summer classes this summer so that I could make it in under the wire and graduate not in May of 2018, but in December of 2018.
I figured out in order to do that I would need to take six classes over the summer equaling nineteen credits. That was an overwhelming proposition but it would leave me needing just a normal, manageable fifteen credits for my final semester. I was not sure that I'd be able to do it but my stubbornness, competitive nature compelled me to try. I held my breath and signed up for three classes each session, giving myself just five days between spring and summer classes.
I signed up for Latin, American Cinema, Sociology of the Holocaust, Creative Writing, Philosophy of Love, Sex, and Friendship, and Developmental Psychology. I was committed now but still questioned if I could pull off nineteen credits in twelve weeks. As it turned out, I had absolutely no fun the last twelve weeks. I didn't go to a pool or a beach, I saw no movies, I didn't go hiking, and I didn't go to Firefly. What I did do was earn those credits, all nineteen of them. I completed my summer with five As and a B+, not too shabby. I learned that when I decide to accomplish something I can, and that's comforting to know.
So here I am on August 13, the first day of my summer. For the next two weeks, I am going to hang out with my family, boyfriend, and friends. I'm going to watch tv and sleep late. I'm going to go on a hike or two. Was it worth it? To give up a chance at a real summer and a chance to work and earn some money is a difficult thing. I would, however, do it again. I will graduate from GW in 2018 and that makes it all worth it.
