As we get older everything changes with the passage of time and words no longer hold the same meaning. Summer used to mean ultimate freedom as a kid, and now as a 21-year-old rising senior in college summer time means something totally different.
Summer In Middle School
School is finally out, the sun is shining, and you have three months to have the best summer yet. Summer activities as a middle schooler involve:
- Riding bikes with neighborhood friends
- Gathering at the one house in the neighborhood that has a pool
- Playing catch with your siblings in the backyard
- Summer sports camps
- Sleep away camp
- Chasing down ice cream trucks
- Family vacations
- Going to the beach with no intention of laying out for a tan
- Selling lemonade on the corner
- Camping in your backyard
- Playing in the sprinkler
Summer In High School
You’re getting older and its time to enjoy summer with newly added responsibility that brings a certain edge of excitement to coming of age. You may have done these things during the summers of your four years in high school.
- Get your first job
- Cruise in your first (crummy) car with your friends
- Race home to make curfew on time
- Babysit the neighbor kids
- Go on college visits
- Vacation with friends and their families
- Have a summer love that ends in heart break
- Go to bonfires
- Ride all the carnival rides at town and county fairs
Summer In College
You’re almost ready to graduate and join the work force, these are some of the last summer vacations of your life, and people you know on Facebook keep getting married and having babies. Its not all bad being an adult during summer in college.
- Apply for an internship (or 12) in an attempt to bulk up your resume
- Live in an apartment off campus
- Enjoy a walk through campus when its not crowded in the summer
- Get a full-time job
- Go to networking events in hopes of securing a job for after graduation
- Attend a wedding
- Volunteer for a local charity
- Have a movie and ice cream night instead of going out to the bars
- Take summer classes to try and graduate early (or on time)
- Learn a new skill
- Redecorate your room
- Going on a road trip with your friends
Summer doesn’t mean the same thing it used to when we were kids, but one thing that will never change is the awesome weather and the memories we make with friends to hold us over through winter until summer returns.