I spent mid September through May counting down the days and exams until I could pack my bags back up and peace out of my small college town--a feeling I'm sure many can relate to. I couldn't wait until I turned in that last paper and could just sit back and enjoy the long, hot days of summer. No homework. No tests. No online classes that you forget about until a week before the final. Nothing except a much needed break. I craved this more than anything.
But that's typically how wishing for things that you don't have ends up going--once you get the thing you've been waiting for, you finally realize all the good things that you just left behind.
Like---
Constant community.
I moved from my small college town back to my big city home, and while there's never a lack of things to keep me busy, I don't walk into my favorite coffee shops and recognize everyone. People don't stop me while I'm walking on the street to ask how my day is going or if I have dinner plans. The truth is, life is a whole lot more lonely when you're not surrounded by your best friends 24/7.
Roommates.
I get it. Sometimes all you wish is that you lived alone so that you could make whatever messes you wanted, not talk to anyone before 10 am, and not have to worry about who's bread is who's. But at the end of the day, once you've been apart for longer than 48 hours you realize that roommates, if you're one of the lucky ones like me, double as your best friends. They see you at your worst and at your best and still choose to wake up in the room next to you every morning. They're the ones that you laugh with, cry with, argue with, and grow with the most. Leaving them for an entire summer feels like you're leaving behind a part of yourself.
The school excuse.
We've all used it either to get out of plans with people we regretted making, or to avoid issues that we were too lazy to deal with at the time. The "Mom, you just don't understand. This week has been crazy busy, and I just can't handle anything else right now." card is used all the time. But for most of us, our summer jobs consist of 6-8 hours a day doing whatever we could find, and then nothing. We normally don't have to bring our work home with us, which means, we also don't get to bring excuses home with us. If you can't hang out the only reason you typically have is "Yeah, I just don't feel like it." That school excuse is both a blessing and curse all wrapped up into one.
Normal spending habits.
I've come up with a theory that things cost 5 times more than they normally do during the summer months. June through August is a weird cycle, because you're bank account should be 10 times what it is during the school year (although lets be honest, it's not hard to improve from $1.52), and yet, the money disappears faster than you can say Summer 16. The one good thing about being stuck in the library and classes for 90 percent of your days is that you're typically too busy crying over your most recent exam grade to worry about what else you can waste your hard earned money on.
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Now I don't say all this to make you feel like you shouldn't enjoy this break that you worked long and hard for--because you definitely should. Soak in the sun, drink all the lemonade and iced coffee your heart desires, and don't stress about the coming semester. But before you go counting down the weeks until it's your turn to walk across the stage, diploma in hand, just remember that when that day does come all of these people and places you've built your life around these past 4 years will be gone. So enjoy your break, but don't forget the place you've left behind. It's patiently waiting for you to come running back.
