Summer break is something most kids look forward to from the time they start going to school. The change in the seasons brings no class, warm weather, late nights, and time spent with friends outside of the classroom, or at least that is the romanticized, ideal summer. For some, summer really means working one or two jobs to be able to afford textbooks and hoping that your day off falls on your friend's day off, otherwise it'll just be another week you don't see them.

And what about those whose summer ends early? As an RA, my summer officially ends on August 9, twenty days before the start of classes. It seems like I just arrived home a week ago, and the state of my room certainly suggests the same. But now it is time to unpack my bags, only to repack them again, deciding what I will and won't need in my final year of undergrad.

Sometimes, I start to think about what I could do with those last three weeks of summer that I won't have. I could go to the beach, I could lounge in the pool, I could go on an overnight hiking trip. A shortened summer is full of FOMO. I'm sure I'll see plenty of snapchat stories full of bonfires and beach days. But I guess that all has a time. This wasn't my summer. This wasn't the year for me to spend countless nights sitting around with my friends. It wasn't the year for me to make a handful of day trips to the beach. But it was the year for me to work hard and save my money to get me through RA training. Let's face it, without Dunkin, it would be a long three weeks.

So while classes may not be just around the corner, I will be heading back to Misericordia and officially waving this summer goodbye.