After one hundred and sixty-eight hours of studying 24/7 for and taking our Spring 2018 final exams, we've finally hit the summer of 2018 and it feels so...weird.

I'm not going to lie, for the last few months, I have allowed college's academic obligations to completely dominate my identity. From March to May, I neglected; family interactions, eating, sleep, and social life, hiding behind the label of "student" in order to avoid social gatherings.

I kept thinking to myself, "you'll save it for the summer, only a few weeks to go, you have that test tomorrow" or "you can't text family members or keep up with group chats right now, Finals are a week and a half away," completely unaware that I was pulling yet another procrastination move.

When summer did hit, I felt like an athlete who, at the peak of performance, quits. Can you imagine how the sudden endorphin drop might feel to that athlete? Once a competitive swimmer, I am all too familiar with the sudden feelings of depression and loss of identity and confidence once a taxing activity like school suddenly stops, leaving you with absolutely nothing to fill the gaping hole in your suddenly too long days.

After looking at my calendar and realizing we are less than two weeks into our summer vacation, I understood why I felt so stir crazy; I was so used to cramming last minute assignments and projects in every day, my mind had absolutely no time to process what would occur the day after Finals Week. I felt like everything dropped and I had absolutely no idea how to handle myself without the safety net of a structured schedule.

So I floundered for the first couple days of summer.

I slept twenty-four hours the first day, binge-watched Netflix the second, and cleaned my entire apartment twice the third day. By the fourth day, I was at a loss.

I felt like my purpose completely eluded me without the constant stress of school. I was stressed when I had too many projects and assignments on my plate, now I was anxious with nothing to do and no perspectives.

Then I remembered the "summer list" I had started to make myself a few weeks before summer vacation. I had put down all the "extra" and "not due tomorrow" tasks I wanted to get done sometime in my college career.

Whether it was going on a shopping spree with my best friend, reading a ton of self-help books in order to find my path in life, exercising, spending some much needed time with family, teaching my puppy new tricks, or applying for those Fall internships, I had created a pretty healthy summer list for myself.

I realized that summer is a time to enjoy the process of getting to know yourself. Remember to make a note of the topics and things you found interesting and wanted to pursue during the school year but simply didn't have time too.

When you are given the rare opportunity (ahem, like summer vacation) to explore what truly makes you a valuable and unique individual, go back and study, research, or experience those inspiring or motivating topics you wrote down throughout the semester.

Not only will you expand your range of knowledge and understanding of the world around you, you will also give yourself time to achieve those "life after college" goals that you just can't seem to find enough time to achieve during the school semesters.