I’m confident that everyone can remember waking up the morning of the last day of school feeling so excited that it’s finally summer break. Being stuck in a classroom five days a week for eight hours a day isn’t really something that most people would consider “fun.” Obviously, when summer comes along, meaning you can sleep in and hang out with your friends every day, anyone would be excited to have that freedom. But what happens when you go to college? Yes, you still do have to go to class and yes, you still have to do loads of homework and countless hours of studying. The difference lies in the whole new experience of being a college student. Summer is a whole different ball game once you experience the true “college kid summer.”
1. Free time? Never heard of it.
College is a time of your life where there are so many new opportunities present that is hard to have a moment where you aren’t doing something. When you leave that hectic environment, it is weird to think that you can be so bored back at home that you don’t even know what to do with yourself. This isn’t always a bad thing, however. You can catch up on your Netflix shows, read a good book, or just take naps all day- college definitely messed up everyone’s sleep schedule, so you can at least try to fix that.
2. My friends are so far away...
It is a huge adjustment from living three seconds away from your best friends and then being at least twenty minutes away from them. Now, the people you’re used to seeing everyday, you may only see a couple times a month.
3. You're still working, believe it or not.
Most students will get a job when they come home for the summer so that they can make some money for the next school year- how ironic. That “break” from school work is truly nonexistent- you just transition from school work to an actual paying job. Many people even take summer classes to get ahead or to catch up.
4. You're back living with your parents.
Chores, chores, chores. Something you may not be used to being forced to do when you are living on your own. If you’re back in your parent’s house, it means that you have to abide by their rules- and you may even have a curfew (gasp).
While there are a ton of aspects about summer that have dramatically changed since we were little, it is still a nice time to be able to hangout with your friends from home, go to the pool, and see your family. The stress of school work is pretty much on hold until the beginning of the fall semester, so that does take a huge weight off of everyone’s backs. I guess the cliché of dreading going back to school really does fade away once you head to college. Who would’ve thought?
