After being out of school for about a month and a half, I've definitely settled into the summer season. I haven't even started thinking about how I'm going to acquire my books for the fall yet, I've begun watching shows on Netflix that I don't make time for during the school year, and I've lived vicariously through my friends on Snapchat as they study abroad in exciting places. But amidst these liberating thoughts and activities, I find myself regularly missing many aspects of my life at UVa that have become second nature to me. These may differ from person to person, but UVa provides so many wonderful experiences for its students that there must be some common denominators.

1. Bodo's Bagels.

Coming from Long Island, NY, where pizza and bagels are king, I have come to the conclusion that Bodo's actually serves some of the best bagels I've ever had. They may be smaller and less crispy than the NY bagels I enjoy on my school breaks, but they just taste so darn good. If only that fake article about the corner Bodo's becoming open for 24 hours were true...

2. A structured social schedule.

Though I do cherish my freer days during the summer, I tend to get antsy if I don't have concrete plans for a few days. One thing you definitely can't say about UVa students is that they thrive on unstructured time, and even though classes and schoolwork take up much of my time during the school year, I look forward to knowing that there will be something going on every weekend for me to attend, whether it's a party, a concert, a performance, or, shockingly, some other thing.

3. Late-night "work" sessions in Clem.

Clem, particularly Clem 4, is notorious for being the library that everyone goes to when they have a ton of work to do but no intention of actually doing it. Throughout each semester, there have been many nights where my workload was not urgent and I was able to enjoy some wonderful "group study" sessions while often delving into probing and interesting conversations with my friends. One thing I love about UVa students is that they're always down for an intelligent conversation, even at 1 in the morning, and Clem's all-night hours are very conducive to such chatter.

4. Always having 20 unread emails in my inbox.

Believe it or not, I actually do miss this over the summer. Now that I finally learned how to unsubscribe from listservs, most of the emails I get are ones I want to receive. There's a certain comfort in knowing that UVa is constantly there for me via email during the school year, and when I barely hear from them over the summer, I irrationally think they've forgotten about me. That is, until mid-August, when I'll get a barrage of emails solely devoted to warning me about the Wertland Block Party the first weekend of school.

5. Sighing daily about my beautiful views of the Rotunda when I walk across the Lawn.

There are certainly other beautiful places in the country, but nothing quite compares to the familiar view of the majestic Rotunda emerging from between two stately rows of trees and Lawn rooms. If I'm feeling stressed or bothered, taking a few extra seconds to look at the Rotunda and remind myself of my fortunate place in life helps to center my thoughts and relax my mind. Having beautiful, familiar, inviting views wherever I go on Grounds is a comfort that I miss greatly whenever I venture outside Charlottesville.

6. Exercising my mind trying to outsmart the UTS and trolley apps.

It's a daily battle of mind games trying to figure out how many minutes the bus will be late, how long I actually have to get to the bus stop when the Outer Loop is "one minute away," and whether or not the trolley app will finally work for me. Though I've come to rely heavily on the UTS app to get to class in the morning, I find that most of the time, I trust my feet to get me places more than I trust large, crowded vehicles.

7. Enjoying Starbucks solely on plus dollars, thanks to Nau Hall.

This may be a "basic" choice, but come on. Everyone with a meal plan at UVa is thankful that the Starbucks in Nau takes plus dollars. It's how I sample their seasonal surprises and how I get my occasional fix of iced tea or hot chocolate, depending on the season. The Nau Starbucks line is also one of my favorite places to eavesdrop on other UVa students as they converse about how incredibly demanding their major is, how their 50-weekend plans are stressing them out, or how much they want the SAB to be redone immediately. Though maybe that last one is just me venting out loud. Excuse me, venti-ing.

8. RSVPing to Facebook events seemingly every day.

It's an oddly cathartic activity for me to look on Facebook and sort through event invites from the UVa Career Center, various CIOs, and random people at UVa I forgot I had as Facebook friends. This relates to my comfort in having a structured social life during the school year, but I enjoy knowing that Facebook can provide me with both informative and fun events around which to plan my life. Plus, I'm not going to lie, I do feel a rush of ungrounded popularity wash over me when I see five new FB event invites in my notifications. It quickly goes away once I see that 5,000 of my closest friends were also invited to the event.

9. Having a plethora of delectable brunch options on the weekends.

Charlottesville is known for having a high amount of restaurants per capita, and thankfully many of these restaurants serve delicious weekend brunches that are surprisingly affordable for hungry students. From Basil, to Pigeon Hole, to Fig, to Bizou downtown, to countless other places, it is a true joy knowing that if I want to venture out on the weekends, I'll have many delicious options at my disposal. I never truly understood the appeal of brunch until I came to college, but now that I've dipped my toes into the Cville brunch waters, it's hard to get out of the pool.

10. The thrill of leaving a lecture knowing I learned something valuable.

Though summer of course has its many perks, there is no denying that it is often less intellectually stimulating than the school year. I got especially lucky with my classes last semester, where I was consciously aware that I was learning new things and expanding my worldview every week. UVa is ripe with classes that will make you look forward to every lecture and see education as an all-encompassing aspect of college.

When I first visited Charlottesville for Days on the Lawn, now affectionately known as DOTL, I sensed a magical energy in the air as I walked around Grounds. This feeling was magnified during orientation and has never fully left me since I moved in for my first year of school. This is what I miss perhaps most of all about UVa during the summer months, more than Bodo's and brunch. I miss the energy of thousands of students working to make their ideas and dreams turn into realities every day. This atmosphere is what is so infectious about UVa, and what I most look forward to encountering again as the calendar eventually points towards move-in weekend once again.