As I arrived in Florida for my spring break, I figured I would be fine, that I wouldn’t get a sunburn, that I had learned my lesson in years past.
I was wrong.
My entire body was blotches of deep red and pink by 4 p.m. on the first day of break. It is ridiculous that at this point in my life I am still struggling with how sunscreen works. It must have something to do with the fact that I am out of the sun for so long, only to reemerge into the bright light for a week at a time.
I get so anxious to absorb as much sunlight as possible in the short time that I have available that I completely forget about the fact that I am absolutely destroying my skin in the process. Here are seven signs you have been out of the sunlight for far too long:
1. You step outside without sunglasses and immediately turn back inside to retrieve them or risk going completely blind.
2. You think you can go straight from “white as a sheet of paper” to that perfect tan. You can’t.
3. You apply sunscreen in a fairly even, seemingly normal manner, and then somehow end up missing significantly large portions of your body and you don’t notice until it is way too late.
4. You go on a quick bike ride and come back with the entirety of your upper back in varying shades of red and a slightly less stark white.
5. You will think it is weird to be outside past 4:30 p.m. and have it still be light outside.
6. You will get used to not wearing pants and it will be a tremendous struggle to have to adjust to the real world again.
7. You will forget what it is like to be cold and pale and that will be a shocking reality once you return to school/home/work.
As my spring break comes to a close, I have realized that I still have no clue how to use sunscreen. This is a ridiculous thought considering that I am nearly done my first year of college and applying sunscreen is something I should have mastered by the age of 8.
My body is currently 12 varying shades of white, tan and red, with none of them blending together in the right way. Here’s hoping that one day, hopefully soon, I will learn my lesson that being burned from head to toe and having your skin blister is preventable. Until then, cheers to looking like a ripe tomato.
