Heading out of SLO for the Summer can be a sad situation because your friends, your school, and your whole college life has been here for the past nine months! But by completing these tasks before you go, you can be sure that you have made the most of your year here at Cal Poly and look forward to coming back in the Fall.

1. Visit Pirate’s Cove

It’s glorious for a sunset. The waves crash on the rocks and the sun reflects off the ocean giving you an amazing sunset on the water to think of during the summer.

2. Hike Bishop’s

Exercising is good for stress and stuff, so hiking bishops during finals week is perfect. One up yourself by finally doing that sunrise hike you’ve been saying you’ll do all year, unless you have an early final -- then definitely get some sleep, instead…

3. Have a beach day

Having a beautiful beach (a warm beach at that) so close to where you live is incredibly rare. Enjoy it one last time while you can. Make sand castles. Take many pictures hugging the wooden post under the pier and fake jumping with the ocean in the background. And get yo' self some ice cream.

4. Take a class at the Rec Center

Believe me, you’re gonna miss it big time this summer. Spin classes and leisure pools are not in your backyard at home. Unless they are, in which case you can probably disregard this suggestion, I guess.

5. Visit the P

Especially if you’re a first year... Having the P practically in your backyard is something you’ll not be able to enjoy unless you’re spending another year in the residence halls (you go, RA’s!). Now they’ve revamped it and added a deck and stairs, too, so you’ll no longer fall ten times on the way up.

6. Go to Farmers’

What other cities has the renowned award winning farmer’s market that San Luis Obispo does? Not many. Go check out those summer strawberries one last time and buy a sunflower or two for your mom on the way back home.

7. Have a WOW/Friend reunion

Finals week is busy and over fast. Before you know it, people are going to leave to go home or to their internships or traveling wherever they’re going to travel. Take one last time to get everyone together and enjoy the company of just being together.

8. Visit downtown

Downtown SLO is so cute. It’s unique in the way that you can find an endless variety of coffee shops as well as a wide array of bars with the biggest craft store, Beverly's, for all of your birthday sign/sorority/fraternity crafting needs. Go downtown for coffee or lunch or just to hang out.

9. Be proud of yourself for finishing a year (or another year) of university

College is hard, in many more ways than one. Your studies have been completed and you have managed to take care of yourself for another year of doing laundry, feeding yourself, and taking care of yourself. Now that the stress of classes is over, celebrate your accomplishments by patting yourself on the back as you gear up for next year!