I am here to report on the startling anomaly that I'm sure has occurred to many throughout the ages. It is a phenomenon that we experience every year and yet, like the rush at Christmastime, it continues to surprise us annually.

This bizarre phenomenon that I am referring to is of course the increasing speed of the passage of summer with every subsequent year. It always seems to be the same tale: the days have just started to get warmer, the time opening up to be a little more free (whether you are still in school or not), and the general mood seems to be lighter. Then suddenly, in a blink, before you have time to finish that fifth icy Bomb Pop popsicle, it is the scalding month of August and the only icy chill to be found is the distant whispering of Autumn plotting its next move. Every year, despite our best efforts otherwise, summer seems to be gone before it has even started.

This occurrence is only aggravated if you happen to be a student with summer class. Careful research (i.e. minimal effort of observation) has shown that a summer class both drags out and speeds up the amount of summer that we each have to spend. The drag comes from the endless hours of homework as one gazes longingly out the window at the tempting sunlight. The speed comes from being trapped inside with that same school work and then, when the time finally comes to go out and enjoy your summertime, the hours of fun shenanigans pass by in a blur.

So what can we do to combat this summertime sadness? Lana del Rey did not prepare us for this! Well for one thing, you can refuse to let it drag you down or rush you. Spend the necessary time on your responsibilities but organize them and block them out so that you make sure you have a time for work and a time for play. Give each thing its deserved attention so that your free time belongs to you and you alone. Do what makes you happy, whether that is playing video games in the air conditioned sanctuary of your basement or running around out in the sunshine with the wind in your hair and the grass (and bees) beneath your feet. Even if you are someone who enjoys a more “indoors” level of summer, at least take a little time to be adventurous outside as well. We only get a few precious months of soul-healing sunshine, so it is good to enjoy them while they are still within our grasp.

So grab your summer by the horns while you still can. Don't just mope around indoors and hide from the sunshine. You may feel like the entirety of summer is stretched out before you as you stand at the beginning of it, but all too soon those scorching August days will be upon us and then it is only a hop, skip, and a jump to Christmas. Although his numerology may have been a little off, a wise man once said, “There’s 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it. So the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it.”

Whatever it is you choose to do, however you decide to fill your summer days, just make them count and spend them wisely, because they’ll be up sooner than you know it. It's only a matter of time.