The rays of the sun on your skin. The waves crashing on the beautiful beach shore. Going to carnivals and getting on every ride and practically inhaling cotton candy. Swimming and playing water games in the pool until your heart’s content. Nights with bonfires and s’mores that seem like they will never end. That’s what summer is actually about, going out and enjoying yourself with your friends and making the most of it. Or so you thought…
Being in college somewhat limits how one spends his or her summer. Aside from the very beginning, my summers tend to get pretty busy.
Toward the beginning, I usually have time and the house to myself. I have to wait for most of my friends to come home from school, which is usually about two to three weeks after I come home. When the weather is nice, I usually go for a run around my neighborhood. After my run, which is more like me attempting to run up the biggest hill in my neighborhood, I usually just go back home and just find a new show to binge-watch on Netflix. Sometimes (it’s very rare, though), I get so bored I start doing housework (I know, right? I’m so weird). So, yeah, for me, the beginning of summer is usually very chill.
Then, we get into the wonderful month of June.
For the past seven years, I have worked with kids at summer camp at my local community college. I love working with kids and for about six to seven weeks every summer, I get to be a counselor in various camps, such as sports camps, science camps, and my all-time favorite – cooking camps. Work often makes summer go by fast and I love the kids and even though I’m very sarcastic toward them, they love me, too. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better summer job.
As of last semester, I work for an insurance company and I blog for them and will continue to do so over the summer. It is not what I (and probably you) expect it to be about. I get to promote their home businesses in fun and creative ways. For example, I got to write about photography and I am currently working on a series for craft shows and how to sign up for them and how to get more customers for your own personal crafts. I really enjoy it and I work for some of the kindest people who actually took us out to celebrate last month and treated us to a fancy dinner at the Four Seasons.
On top of all of this lovely work, I will be taking an online psychology course during the latter half of the summer. I took Intro to Psychology last summer and this summer, I will be taking Child Development, which would obviously make sense, I’d assume (I am a communications major, but if you remember from a few paragraphs back, I really like working with kids. Before you ask, no, I do not want to be a teacher). I love psychology and wish that I could minor in it, but, alas, I cannot; still, I would like to keep my options open in the future.
Here we go. Some good news everyone - I will be “enjoying my summer” at one point.
My family and I are going on vacation to Cedar Point in August, which is an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. I haven’t been to Cedar Point since the 3rd grade, so I have to admit I’m pretty excited. I just happen to be a rollercoaster junkie (along with my dad and my brother), so Cedar Point is definitely the place to go this summer. The park is considered to be the “rollercoaster capital of the world,” with the Top Thrill Dragster, Millennium Force, and their new Valravn, opening May 7.
So, yeah, summer. It’s not the same for any two people and I am thankful for my experiences thus far. I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing people and go on vacation to some pretty cool places. Your summer might go differently or close to the same as mine. I challenge you to make your summer, you know, your summer. You’ll thank me later. Due to my tight schedule, I, however, probably won’t have that much time to do everything on my list, but I encourage you to do what you want to with the time you have.
If I had the time, trust me, I would take it, but I both do and don’t know what direction my life is going in this May to August.
But hey, I guess that’s just how summer is supposed to be.
