As my sophomore year winds to a close, I’ve started thinking about how different my summer will be. I’m going to be coming back to campus to do work with camps and other groups that use the buildings during the summer, so I think a lot about how different the campus will be when school is out. I realized it will be pretty strange living on campus but not having classes, and also thought of a lot of things I will probably miss. Some of them might seem a little obvious, but a few were things I didn’t really think I’d miss until I started thinking about what summer will be like without them.

1. My roommate.

My awesome “almost sister” roommate is one of the parts of college that I knew I was going to miss. I miss her even over mid-school breaks; we’ve gotten to know each other very well and enjoy spending time together, whether we’re working on homework, talking about interesting new ideas, or even just watching a movie together. Fortunately, she’ll be working close by so we might be able to see each other a few times over break.

2. Professors.

Some faculty will be around during the summer, but I’m going to miss seeing professors every week and getting to talk to them about anything from the history of news reporting to my most recent novel in progress. Although maybe this summer I will have time to finish said novel and discuss the completed work with professors in the fall. Something to look forward too.

3. Classes.

I know, now we’re getting into the weird things. But I will actually miss the regular schedule of what happens on what day and when I need to get up. My summer job’s hours are much more flexible, and I’m excited for the new experiences every day, but having a schedule I can know and stick to is comforting too.

4. Homework.

Some days I’m absolutely positive that not having homework is going to be the best part of summer work. But then I realize I may not have scheduled homework, but I’ll probably end up with some self-imposed studying because I’m always trying to learn something new. This summer I hope to refine my sign language skills as well as learn more information about a lot of random things. I’ll have a whole library available too, that could be dangerous…

Thinking about all these things now has made me wonder what it’s going to be like when I graduate. It seems a little unreal that I am already halfway through college. And if I know I’m going to miss it for just one summer, I can’t help but wonder what it will be like to leave after graduation. Two years have gone by so fast. I’m sure the next two will seem even shorter. Knowing that certainly makes me appreciate the college experiences I’m having now, and it helps me remember that even though I may think something is tedious at the time, I’ll probably miss it when it’s gone.