Rejoice, ladies and gents, it's finally summertime! School's out and three months of fun and freedom are headed our way!
At least, that's how it used to be.
In grade school we'd count down the days until the last day of school. It was the end-all, be-all of our young lives. We'd ride bikes, swim, spend the night at friends' houses for days on end, play video games and eat junk food under that hot summer sun the entire season. There was uninhibited electricity in the air.
High school summers were even better. As we learned to drive, cars replaced bicycles and we were able to travel farther than our neighborhoods, stay out later and get into more trouble. You had your first hook up at some country concert you had no interest in seeing. It was the experience you craved. You were always outside, hanging out in parks, or maybe a parent's basement, if you were lucky. Days flowed seamlessly into nights and the future couldn't look brighter. It was the life.
The summer I graduated high school I asked myself, could things get any better? I mean c'mon, up until then school was T-ball compared to what was to come, the big time, the pros: college. Freshman year was a whirlwind for a lot of us, and those who went away for school and survived the first year without screwing up and getting shipped back home experienced something that is hard to put into words but can be summed up as an incredible transition period where you learn who you are and settle into your self, finally removed from your parents' sphere of influence. It's a make-it-or-break-it period of life, and the reward is your first summer of college.
Having just finished my sophomore year at the University of Iowa, I have experienced a college summer back home (last summer), and I'm about to begin my first summer in my college town of Iowa City. This is the problem of summer in college. Do you go home to your family and old friends or stay at school, take a few classes and hang with those who also still remain at school? If you, like me, know enough people hanging back at school, it's a no-brainer to stick around and get ahead in credit hours. On the other hand, though, a summer job back home is a lucrative draw and could leverage a decision.
When I went home last summer I had an alright time. It was neither particularly good nor bad. The most notable event was Lollapalooza, which I will always head home for each summer anyway, so other than that I didn't do much, nothing exceedingly exciting. I spent most of the break hanging out with the same group of friends, spent too much of my parents' money, barely worked and slept a ton.
In the hopes of changing that, during my sophomore year I went around and asked people who had remained at school during a summer how it was and got overwhelmingly positive reviews and recommendations. I was told that historically the town is alive during the summer, that those who remain go out consistently, so it's not as boring as most would think with most students back in their hometowns. With this information, I decided to make a change. I told my parents I wasn't coming home, and I signed up for summer classes, thus putting myself ahead of the game for the fall semester. I also didn't have to find a new job back home, as I'm able to continue my current gig out here—working door at a bar on the main drag in one of best up-and-coming cities in America. My decision to stay was a winner.
The real problem with summer in college is that having fun is a paradox. The real fun of college is the school year, when all students and all your friends are present at the same time and place, ensuring that mayhem and merriment will ensue. This was confirmed when I received a text message from a friend of mine whom I've grown close to this past school year. After only an hour of his parents picking him up and moving him out of his house, which sits across the street from mine here at school, he texted me, "I'm gonna miss you brotha." And I lost it there. I guess it's true when they say nobody wins unless everyone wins.
However, as I woke up this past Sunday morning after a long week of finals, a long weekend of celebrating finals being over and two long nights checking IDs over a busy graduation weekend. After day-drinking and eating on a restaurant patio in town, I walked to my buddy's apartment and crossed a bridge, and while en route, I noticed smoke billowing from underneath, and it smelled distinctively of barbecue. It was the local homeless grilling, drinking, eating and being merry.
Summer is a time for everybody: businessmen, fishermen, statesmen, homeless people and college students—away at home or still at school. You wake up just a bit more eager, excited and relaxed during the summer. You have a glint in your eye and a spring in your step, and you know it's all gonna be alright because this is the endless summer and the best is yet to come.
