When most people hear that I'm signed up for summer classes, they look at me with mixed expressions of pity and commiseration. "You just got out of classes! That must suck!" Sometimes, they'll eye me askance, if they don't believe I'm showing the proper amount of regret. The truth is, I'm actually always excited about being able to take summer classes.

I've never been overly fond of long breaks. Yes, I will personally go and confront anyone who dares to interfere with my long weekends or my short breaks, but summer break is one of those breaks that seems to me to stretch into eternity. Sure, the first month, I may be living the dream life but by the time the third month is underway, I'm about ready to book a trip to the Underworld just to escape the ennui that always seems pervade.

It isn't just the length that makes the vacation begin to grate on my nerves; it's the fact that, when it comes down to it, I choose to be infinitely lazy in summer and being infinitely lazy makes me feel deplorable. So, basically, I condemn myself to a continuous cycle of self-loathing and unproductivity where the thought of all the things I could be doing and choose not to do because lounging on the couch and sleeping employ most of my time annoy me, even as I consciously make those decisions. Is that my fault? Probably. Does that mean I have to like it? Definitely not.

Summer classes force my life to take some sort of direction so that even if the best thing I can do for myself is lay on a couch all day, it'll at least be with a textbook in my hand and the knowledge that I have to pass a comprehension test on Chapter 14 and submit a post on the discussion board before midnight. It also motivates me to wake up sometime before four in the afternoon and actually think about doing something worthwhile — maybe I don't have the strength of will to take up flower arranging or cooking as a summer hobby, but if I don't pass my summer classes, I know I'll be in troubled waters come the close of summer.

So, if I don't seem too heartbroken about being enrolled in two summer classes this semester, besides volunteering at a Summer School in the morning, don't take it personally. I don't mean to go against the general force of human nature; I do mean to show myself that I will personally do whatever I can to keep myself from being miserable. Who wants their summer to be one filled with misery?