If you are starting to think of what is next after your stressful school year, you are not alone. If you do not have plans yet for the summer, you still have time. Here are a few suggestions to keep you happy, healthy, and inspired throughout your Summer.

Take Care of Your Soul

This is crucial to you loving your Summer and making sure that you experience every minute you have. Try some simple things like enjoying a sunrise. This is not something you often have time for while busy with school, but Summer is the perfect time to appreciate the beginning of the day with less worry about the day to come. Sometimes you just need a quiet minute, time to get out of your head. If you are an obsessive planner, try something different and put away your calendar. Try going on a spontaneous adventure and getting lost (within reason, do not die). Look around at what is going on around you. See if there are some good concerts for the Summer and invest in a few nights to experience live music. Oh, and do not forget to neglect to act your age, play outside, and be a little immature. It will not be too much longer until it takes more effort to get away with such things. Eat a popsicle, go for a walk, maybe pull out a super soaker. Whatever happens, happens. Be a kid for a minute or two.

Take Care of Your Friends

If your year looked anything like mine, it involved a lot of unintentionally ignored text messages and maybe some missed phone calls that you never returned. It has been a few months since I had a genuine conversation with some of my closest friends, and that needs to change. If there are some people you have been missing this school year, the Summer months can be the perfect time to catch up. And do not just say “we have to hang out sometime!”. Come up with an actual date so you get the time you need to build your friendship back up. Ask them to join in some of your ideas for the Summer, or make things up as you go. Anything is better with your friends along. Even wandering around at 11 o’clock at night seems a little bit more normal, and a lot more fun when you have spare time and a good friend with you. Make some memories and add some items to your arsenal of inside jokes, any friendship could use more of those.

Try New Things

It can be tempting to get back into a routine and fall into fixed habits as soon as you get back home. Normal is good, but do not plan for “boring”. Even if it means sitting at home, find something new to do. Try out a TV show that you have never watched, maybe even one that you have never heard of! It can be great to experience a show without popular culture telling you what you should think about it. If you are usually a fan of dramas, find a fun sitcom. If you find yourself watching a lot of cartoons, make some effort to find a show that stretches the mind a little bit more. The important thing is that it is outside of your normal routine. One of my goals this summer is to create something of my own that is new. Try to do something creative and outside of your comfort zone. Recently I got the chance to paint for the first time and I absolutely adore the result (even if there are quite a few smudges). I never knew that I could make something like that and find it presentable. Be a little adventurous and see what happens. Who knows, maybe you will be this generation’s next great artist.

Above all else, take care of yourself while making the summer count for something. Do something memorable so you know exactly what you spent your time doing, come next semester. You might not be asked to write a paper on the subject in the new school year, but you will have new memories, which is so much more important. Love being back in your home, with your family, and let yourself get some well-deserved rest.