To The Student Who Feels Unaccomplished During Summer,
Hey. I know—this whole ‘summer’ thing has thrown you off a bit. After nine months of endless homework assignments, boring classes, hours of studying, tons of meetings, a minimum wage job, and somehow trying to fit in adequate time for friends and family, you’d think you would be just as excited as your fellow classmates to relax in the sun and sand. I mean, summer is the time to unwind from all of the stresses of college; sure, you might work a part-time job or have an internship a couple days a week, but ultimately, summer is nothing compared to how busy your schedule is during the school year. And this for you is something hard to grasp. So, summer isn’t exactly your favorite time of the year. In fact, a little part of you might even enjoy the school year more than summer break.
“Whaaaat? Are you crazy?? Who doesn’t love summer??” come the cries of our summer-lovers. But, summer-lovers, hear out your school-lover friends for a second. The best way I can describe the feeling summer initially brings us after finals week is this: Imagine you are in Times Square in the middle of the day, and thousands of things are happening simultaneously: cars honking, lights flashing, people walking in all different directions, billboards everywhere, sensory stimulation overload, and then—nothing. Absolutely nothing. It sounds frightening, doesn’t it? Suddenly everything we knew for nine months is gone and it’s back to a home that isn’t necessarily our home as we knew it before going to college; in fact, us school-lovers might argue that school even feels more like home now because of all the time we spend there. So no, us school-lovers aren’t exactly all gung ho for summer…at least, not completely.
Back to my school-lovers now: I know why you feel this fear when you look down and your plate that was once filled with thousands of things is suddenly gone. It’s because you feel you are not achieving anything during your time of relaxation. You feel that everything you were doing during the school year was helping you to work toward your ultimate goal: your dream job after graduation. Even though you were stressed beyond belief during the school year—mental breakdowns became a part of your daily schedule, if we’re being honest—it left you with a sense of accomplishment when you checked off each task on your to-do list. Every task was a brick on your path to success, so of course when summer rolls around and there’s suddenly not as much on your to-do list, you feel unaccomplished and that you are not working toward a goal. And this can not only be disheartening, but can make you feel unmotivated: the worst feeling of all, for you.
Well, my friend, I’m here to tell you to embrace summer. You have worked so hard during these last nine months that it’s okay to take a break and relax. And yes, I’m telling you to relax—I know it’s a word that hasn’t been in your vocabulary for a very, very, very long time, but I think it’s about time to start practicing relaxation again. Your mind and body will thank you for it. Just because you aren’t stressed to the max 24/7 doesn’t mean that you aren’t any farther from achieving your goals than when the school year ended. You cannot fall back from such a successful year; you can only go up.
So, choose one thing this summer that will help you reach your goals—don’t go crazy though. You deserve the sun and sand just as much as our summer-lovers. And who knows? Maybe one day, you’ll be the summer-lover calling me crazy.
Sincerely,
A Fellow School-Lover Learning To Love Summer
