Since before I can even remember, most of my summer days were spent on the beach, soaking up every bit of sunshine I could get. I would wake up, slip on my flip-flops, and hop on my beach cruiser to bike down my block to the ocean. Once there, I jumped in the water right away, and before I left to go back to my house, I just HAD to dip my feet in one more time. This was summer in New York, and for three precious months out of the year, this season is worshiped in my hometown.

Even though summer can be defined as a season that brings plenty of sunshine and beach-worthy weather, it can also be defined as a lifestyle. My summer lifestyle can easily be defined as those long days spent outside covered in sand and saltwater. This lifestyle was what inspired me when I was applying to college: how amazing would it be if I could live an “endless summer” in paradise?

In 2014, I began my freshman year attending college in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I found myself wandering around campus in my flip-flops, staring at the huge palm trees above me. I was thinking about how great it would be to go to the beach on the weekends or lounge by the pool after class. I was thinking about riding my beach cruiser around campus and about how tan I would be living this endless summer in the Sunshine State.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I spent the majority of my time outside of class typing papers in my dorm room. Between work and school, I barely had any free time to read what I was required to, never mind time to lay out in the sun and enjoy a good book. I had only been to the beach a handful of times, and by the time my freshman year ended, I concluded that I was tanner when living in New York.

The “endless summer” does not exist in a lifestyle. This was all too clear for me when my dream of living in paradise in Fort Lauderdale was not quite what I expected. I didn’t realize that actual life would get in the way of Fort Lauderdale feeling like summer, even when the weather is warm year-round. Between taking classes, going to work, writing papers, and all of my other responsibilities, there is no time to live the lifestyle I do during the summer in New York.

Maybe one day I will have a lifestyle worthy of an “endless summer,” but one thing is certain: having the ability to wear flip-flops year-round does not guarantee that you live in paradise.