Living in a college town over the summer is a weird phenomenon. The city that was once buzzing with life less than a month ago is still and silent with little, if any, human contact available. Maybe you’re here for the summer because you’re taking a lot of summer classes and don't want to drive every day, or maybe you have a swanky internship and it’s so much easier to commute from school than it is from home. Or maybe you just really don’t wanna be home so you spend as much time as possible frolicking back at school. For whatever reason you basically never went back home for the summer, and you’re stuck in your college town.
1. Hungry all the time but cant swipe at the dining hall
Okay so its 7pm and you’re starving, but all you have at your apartment is a pack of ramen and a cup of easy mac. Typically you would just walk over to the dining hall or swipe for take out when this situation arises. But its the middle of the summer and there is no dining hall available for you to steal food from.
2. Too lazy to cook, so you spend all of your money at restaurants (tacoria, hansel etc)
Since theres no dining hall you’re basically required to cook most of your own meals (gasp!!). Unless you’re super lazy, which you are 90% of the time. So instead of cooking you spend 90% of that internship paycheck buying pizza for dinner every night.
3. Prime table options at the library
The last time you stepped foot into the library was finals week, and there were no open tables in sight. You and your friends had to separate and sit alone instead of at a big comfy table. Now, the library is emptier than you’ve ever seen, not a soul in sight. You get prime selection of tables, and don’t have to fight anyone for an outlet!
4. No one is around for distractions
Another perk of basically being the only person in the library is that no one can come by and distract you. Everyone knows that the first floor of the library is basically a social setting, and you end up seeing at least 5 people you know during your 3 hour study session. Since no one is around to distract you, that paper you need to write can get done in 2 hours instead of 5!
5. Alone time at the gym
Like being at the library, the gym is oddly empty for the first time in ages. Unless you like working out at 5 am or are lucky, usually the gym is packed by the time you arrive. Now you only have to share the gym with a handful of people instead of the usual gym rat crowd.
6. Campus is too quiet on the weekend
Has your college town ever been silent on a Friday night? No I didn’t think so. Welcome to the summer where the streets are silent and empty and almost half of the bars are closed.
7. Summer buses
Personally, I have never taken a summer bus but I’ve heard the horror stories. I’ve heard stories of missing the bus by a minute and then having to wait an hour to get on the next bus. They’re like the weekend buses but so much worse. If you’re smart (or lazy) you’ll take the risk and park wherever you please…or just walk to class.
8. Summer classes
If you say you enjoy summer classes, you’re lying. This is the main reason the majority of people are in your college town for the summer. Students may be trying to get ahead in credits, or they may be trying to fix their GPA from a bad semester, or just taking pre-reqs for the classes they need come fall. Sitting in class every day while watching Snapchats of your friends at the beach is such a bummer. Hopefully with the first session of classes ending, fun can begin.
9. No social life
The best part about school is seeing your friends every day, and always having something to do; the summer is just laying around watching Netflix most of the time. The worst part about summer is how inherently lonely it is, you can no longer walk down the hall and see your friends, or sit in your living room for hours doing nothing. Meeting with friends takes time and planning and lacks the spontaneity of the school year. Chances are your Snapchat story is empty and you’ve been counting down to September since May.
10. Random summer parties
Summer parties can be a huge hit or miss. Most of the time they’re pretty small and not packed in the slightest, but on the other hand the rarity of summer parties is extreme. The shift from partying 3 (or 4) times per week to partying 2 or 3 times per month can be an odd shift in your social life (see #10). Give it until 1am and that party probably got busted anyway.
11. No one is around
College is weird, you can walk down the street and see at least 10 people you know before making it to class. But over the summer the exact opposite happens, you can walk around for hours and possibly seeing one person you know. Summer in a college town is lonely, without the hoards of people outside.
12. Random orientation groups popping up
Imagine waking up late for your summer class and having to sprint across famous to make it there in time. You didn’t brush your hair or even attempt to wear an attractive outfit- you just want to get to class. But then it happens, you see a bus pull up with a group of 30 or so bright eyed freshman exploring their new home for the first time. Little do these freshman know in 2 years this will probably be them too.
13. Feeling “at home” in your college town
One if the best feelings of living in your college town is the sense of home. You are able to settle in and get comfortable with your surroundings before anyone else. If you’re living in the same place as you did the previous year you can stay in the same routine and never have to leave or adjust yourself. The silence can be lonely but it can also be soothing, you are able to find some serenity where it is usually hectic. Living at school over the summer an be the calmest you ever see the campus, but it may also be the best part.
14. Calm before the storm- before all the Freshman come
The first two weeks of school are tough. People are attempting to adjust back into their old routines and systems. People are all over the place, and there’s no where you can turn without seeing a lost freshman trying to make their way around. Buses are packed to the brim with people, and without any breathing room between all of the students and heavy back packs. The juxtaposition between the silent summer months and the hectic start to the semester is jarring. Take these last summer months at school well, relax, and prepare yourself for the storm of fall semester.
