As college students, we can all agree that we love summer break. After a long year of difficult classes, late nights studying at the library, constantly running into the boy who broke our heart, and spending too much money on midnight pizza deliveries, our bank accounts are dead, we're stressed out, and we're looking forward to a relaxing few months at home.
By the end of summer break, we're ready to get back to school and get back to the new life we have created for ourselves. By the end of summer, we can't wait to get back to our new home and get back to all of the things we love doing on campus. At Michigan State, there are a lot of things that students can't wait to do when they get back to campus after a long summer away.
1. Eat ice cream at the Dairy Store
As much as we love Cold Stone and Baskin-Robbins, they just don't live up to the thrill and excitement we feel every time we eat a spoonful of our favorite Dairy Store ice cream.
2. Tailgate and go to football games
Would college students wake up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday for any other reason than to wear extra-large t-shirts and jerseys and tailgate before the football game? There's nothing better than a Saturday morning tailgate, sporting green and white, and spending the afternoon at the football game cheering for the Spartans along with 75,000 other people.
3. Hear someone yell "Go Green!" and yell back "Go White!"
It's one of the first things we hear when we arrive at Michigan State for a campus tour when we're just curious high school students, and it's one of the first things we hear when we arrive on campus for orientation. From yelling it at football games to hearing it from random people on the street, yelling "Go Green!" and "Go White!" is one of the many things that makes Michigan State special, and it's something we'll continue to hear and say for the rest of our college career. After a summer away from college and rarely hearing these four words, we can't wait to get back to East Lansing and continue on the tradition.
4. See our friends
For the people (like myself) who don't speak to their high school friends too often, summer break can get a bit lonely when your college friends live on the opposite side of the state or even the opposite side of the country. When you can't grab lunch with your college friends whenever you want or get ready for a party together for a few months, it makes the anticipated return to college in the fall more exciting when you know that you can get back to your old shenanigans with your college friends. We all look forward to move-in day because we know it means we'll have another awesome year with our friends.
5. Have ultimate freedom
As much as we love sleeping in our own bed, playing with our dog, and eating mom's home-cooked meals, we can't wait to get back to our old college habits of doing whatever we want, whenever we want. Whether we feel like skipping our 8 a.m. and sleeping in, or eating cereal for dinner because we feel like it, college is the definition of freedom.
6. Get free things and do free things
I'd never gotten more free stuff in my life until I got to college. If you check your mailbox, there's probably a care-package waiting for you. If you go to the Meijer tailgate tent before a football game, they're almost always handing out free t-shirts. If you read your emails, you'll see an email from the University Activities Board once a week listing all the free events they've got going on for the week. From free movies shown at Wells Hall every Thursday-Sunday, to free bowling every Wednesday night at Spartan Lanes, to the annual UFEST where people are handing out free lanyards and food left and right, there are so many opportunities to get free things and do free things in college because most people understand the fact that we are very poor and they show their sympathy by giving us free stuff and letting us do things for free. (Student discounts are a whole other story).
7. Reunite with our sorority sisters/fraternity brothers
If you're in Greek life, saying goodbye to your sorority sisters/fraternity brothers for the summer is difficult because they've become some of your best friends. When you get back to school in the fall, you can't wait to reunite with your sisters/brothers and you look forward to the fun events your chapter has planned for the year; from recruiting new sisters/brothers to semi-formal to hayride, returning to campus and reuniting with your sisters/brothers means you're bound to have another fun year.
8. Party
This one shouldn't surprise anyone. When we get to college, most of us are ready for the ultimate college experience, and with that comes trashy college parties. Whether you drink alcohol or not, parties are a great way to laugh all night, bond with your friends, and create (un)forgettable memories. When we leave college for the summer, many of us are already counting down the days until Welcome Week and another year of crazy parties, disgusting fraternity houses, dancing on elevated surfaces, and staying out all night with our friends.
9. Study what we love
The reason we went to college in the first place was to study something we love and get a degree in something pertaining to the future career we desire. Although summer break is a much needed time to relax, catch up on sleep, and take a break from our difficult classes and late-night study sessions, we can't wait to get back in the classroom and study what we love. Besides learning from some of the best, most intelligent professors in the world, being a student at Michigan State means that you're one step closer to accomplishing your goals.
10. See Sparty around campus
Whether he's hyping up the crowd at a football game or just hanging out in the library, we can't wait to get back to campus because it means we'll get to see our good friend Sparty.
11. Be inspired
When you're at Michigan State, you're bound to be inspired at least once a day. Everywhere you look, someone is doing something amazing. Whether it's a graduate student working on research with a professor that could be life-changing, watching your friend perform with his band at The Loft, or hearing from your friend how she is excelling in her teaching class, every student at Michigan State is working towards accomplishing their goals, and everyone is one step closer to living the life they always imagined.
12. Be around people who are attractive and intelligent
Whether you prefer guys or girls doesn't matter; we can all agree that college is a different ballpark when it comes to the attractiveness and intelligence of our peers. By the time high school ends, you're tired of seeing the same guys/girls around town; you know them all too well and you have history with a few of them. When you return home for the summer, you start counting down the days until you're back on campus and you're around people who are actually worth doing your hair and makeup for. I'm not saying that your old flings back home aren't attractive and intelligent, but it's like going from the minor leagues to the majors, Michigan State being the majors, of course.
13. Hang out on Grand River
If you don't feel like cooking dinner, no worries because Grand River has you covered. From Buffalo Wild Wings to Potbelly to Los Tres Amigos, you won't have to cook for a couple weeks if you don't want to because there are so many places to eat at on and around Grand River. In need of a new outfit but don't have the energy/car to drive to the mall? Urban Outfitters and Pitaya have you covered.
14. See the beautiful campus every day
Call me biased, I don't care. Michigan State has one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, if not the most beautiful, and it's extraordinarily beautiful in the fall; everywhere you look, there's a tree changing colors. You can sit along the Red Cedar River and feed the ducks or sit on a bench in the Botanical Garden. Either way, we all look forward to returning to Michigan State because it's breathtaking.
15. Go to basketball games
When fall rolls around, we all know what's on its way: Michigan State basketball. Besides loving football more than just about anyone, Michigan State students love basketball. There's no better way to top of your college experience than buying Izzone tickets and participating in the annual campout every year. Just as we're counting down the days until our anticipated return to campus, we can't wait for Spartan basketball.
16. Have a fresh start
Whether you had a crappy sophomore year because you failed a class and changed your major twice, or you had a terrible summer because your boyfriend broke up with you, returning to college in the fall means that you can start over and be a brand new person if that's what you choose to do. In college, you are presented with so many opportunities to grow and become the best version of yourself. You're going to screw up and make a few bad decisions, and you might not always know what your next move should be, but we're all so lucky because we have the freedom to make our own decisions and figure out how to navigate life day by day and on our own terms.
When you return to East Lansing this fall, come with an open mind and the excitement to grow and become the best version of yourself. Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and have as much fun as you possibly can. Stay out all night if you want, order pizza at midnight four nights in a row if that's what your stomach desires, skip a class if you need to, and work your butt off towards obtaining the college degree your heart desires. Take a lot of pictures and document your college experience, or don't. You get to make your own decisions and live your life on your terms, not anyone else's; so do whatever you want, whenever you want (try and keep it legal), but never forget the most important aspects of college: getting a college degree, accomplishing your goals, making unforgettable memories with your friends, calling your parents, and living life to the fullest. As they say, college is some of the best four years of your life; it's up to YOU to make it the best four years of your life.
Get ready East Lansing, the Spartans are on their way home.
