Oh summer 2016,

I truly don't know where to begin with you. I have replayed you multiple times in my head and I cannot come up with a solid conclusion on whether or not I am going to miss you. Sure, it has been nice to not have to worry about classes and school work, but you have introduced me to several lessons, memories and experiences. Some of these lessons, memories and experiences have been amazing and I am so grateful that I will be able to look back on them one day and match them to you, summer 2016. On the other hand, there have been instances that I really wish I didn't have to face, which put a small damper on my summer break.

For starters, I learned that summer love just does not play out the way I had hoped. I hoped this could be the summer to fall in love again, but more importantly, for the last time. Summer love would just be the beginning to a new love story. I realized that distance does become a major factor if you let it be one. Summer love also doesn't work out when you are the only one putting in effort. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise because it gets me one step closer to finding what I deserve in life, but I really did not want to experience heartbreak yet again this summer.

Summer 2016, because you existed, I was able to rock out to many more concerts. If we are keeping tabs, it was a total of six concerts this summer. Clearly, I did not care about my bank account as I bought each ticket. One thing I have to thank you for is the fact that you brought my generation the chance to see Guns N' Roses perform live with Slash and Axl Rose sharing the same stage. That is definitely something I never thought I would be able to say. Not only that, but I finally had the chance to be in the PIT for Luke Bryan. Yes, I got to be up close and personal to Luke which literally brought tears to my eyes due to disbelief. So, thank you summer 2016 for letting me jam out to concerts and in my car with the windows down.

You, like other seasons, have taught me true friends in my life. This part got emotional for me as I walked away from friendships I thought I would have for a lifetime. I learned that some people truly care about themselves and they aren't there for you like they claimed they would be. This was harder to face than summer love failures. The older you get, the more relevant the phrase quality over quantity becomes. At first, I found it depressing that I could say I have two best friends at home and when neither of them could hang out, I didn't have anyone else. I had a few friends I could meet up for a meal or ice cream, but there're two best friends now. Summer 2016, thank you, I guess, for narrowing it down for me.

Lastly, you took me to a whole new world. OK, not literally, but you took me out of my shell in Pennsylvania (or mainly the east coast) and placed me in Southern California for a week. There, life became peaceful and I found a lifestyle that I fell in love with. It did not feel like a vacation to me, at least not the whole time. I got to reunite with two friends of mine and fall in love with a new location. So, maybe the summer love didn't work out with a person, but it worked across the country with a new area. Now when people ask me a dream location, I can respond with Southern California. So thank you, summer 2016, for giving me a new ideal vacation spot and honestly, a place where I would want to settle down.

I guess when you put together the traditional pros and cons list, you weren't all that bad. If anything, you did teach me what I needed to learn and most importantly, you did let me have fun between working, times with the best friends, concerts, vacationing and all the little details in between.

With all of that said, farewell summer 2016. You were one to remember.