For the first 18 years of my life, the idealistic season of "summer" loomed all during the school year. As May came to a close and then June tread on, the anticipation of summer increased each day. Slowly but surely, we would take our final tests and hand in our last projects. We watched movies in every class because we had covered all the required material, which made the days only go by slower. We signed each other's yearbooks with "HAGS" or maybe a nice little message if we really liked the person. Just when we thought the school year would never end, the highly-anticipated "last day of school" would finally be upon us, and the buildup of the prior year would culminate in us striding out the back doors of our school to the tune of Alice Cooper's "School's Out for the Summer" or some other equally cheesy but wildly appropriate song.
When summer came after my first year of college, it did not do so with such a bang. Instead of watching movies and signing yearbooks, my year ended with four final exams and a paper, and then I packed up my entire bedroom to ship my life in Charlottesville back to Northern Virginia. Although summer did not begin with the same anticipatory wind-down as it has in the past, I've still had high levels of anticipation for summertime; the expectancy of these seven things has kept me going throughout the past weeks:
1. No responsibilities
No classes means no responsibilities; no homework, no studying, no obligations, no reason to wake up early. Summer brings the freedom to be as lazy as I want; at least for a little bit, while I de-stress from school, having no responsibilities sounds perfect.
2. Reuniting with my friends
I haven't seen most of my high school friends since at least spring break in early March, and some people I haven't seen for even longer. I can't wait to reunite, catch up, and make new memories together.
3. Reuniting with my dog
You've seen what happens when a dog comes perusing through a college town: everyone stops, heads turn, and the air fills with sighs of "awww." In a college town, we are all deprived of the pets we normally take for granted, and so of course we jump at the chance to pet any random passerby's dog. I'm glad to be back home so that I can spend time with my dog before I will be dog-deprived again in a few short months.
4. Sunshine
This one is obvious but so significant that it warrants mention: summer is warm. After months of cold weather, some sunshine is greatly needed. Warm weather also means I can spend more time outside, which opens a whole new bunch of options of activities to keep busy with: hanging out at the pool, kayaking, running, anything outdoors. Although in a few months I'm sure I'll be ready for the chilly fall, right now I want nothing more than to lay in the sun all day every day, and to some extent, that is exactly what I intend to do.
5. Adventures
Summer's beautiful weather combined with my recently discovered free time creates the perfect opportunity for new adventures. In the next few months, I have the freedom to go to concerts at Jiffy Lube Live, visit college friends in Virginia Beach, climb Old Rag, take the subway to Washington, D.C. to visit Eastern Market or to watch fireworks on Fourth of July; summer brings so much opportunity for adventure, and I fully intend to take advantage of it all.
6. Losing the Freshman 15
Between the unlimited access to dining hall food and my ice milk addiction, I definitely gained some weight this year. While I didn't gain the actual Freshman 15 (thankfully), I am still looking forward to having more control over what I am able to eat and more time to exercise.
7. Reading for pleasure
With all the textbook reading I had for classes during the semester, reading for myself became less of a priority. I've been building up a long list of books all year but have actually gotten around to reading very few of them. This summer, I plan to make this list a priority. What's first? "Great Expectations," which I started over winter break and never finished, soon followed by "The Notebook," the novel that inspired my favorite movie.
