Dear Summer,

Until recently, I would have considered you my least favorite season. Sure, I had good memories of summer as a kid. I loved to swim and enjoyed the excuses to be barefoot, but summer was just merely there. I love snow and cold. When asked my favorite season, it’s always fall. I prefer the crisp and cool to the hot and melting. I’m not a fan of heat or bugs. I like school so I was never the kid who awaited summer for that small taste of freedom. Until last summer I probably would have said that I didn't quite see the point of summer. I was the kid who chose to do a summer academic program in high school. That days by the beach summer magic was basically lost on me.

Summer, I think I used to be scared of you. I used to not know what to do without the structure of school. I loved summer camp because it gave me a purpose. What could have been mistaken as laziness was me being unsure how to fill time. This is the summer where I do what I want to do without reservation. This is my last summer as a pseudo adult. This is the last summer where it is socially acceptable to act like a kid. I’m taking this opportunity to enjoy less structure. Yes, I work full time. That will only fill half of my time. This is the summer where I’ll learn how to be fun.

As I enter my last summer of undergrad, I’m starting to like you. I like warm nights where I’m not too hot, but I can walk outside in a tee shirt. I like that it gets dark later. I love swimming. I love to walk around with headphones in and just exist. Summer, especially my last summer where I have a summer vacation, is a time where I can just be. I can go to work and have fun with friends and I can do everything that during the school year seems like too much effort.

This is the second summer of my life I can say I’ve actually been happy. I have the opposite of seasonal affective disorder — I’m happiest as the weather starts to chill. I am thrilled at the first snow. The weather warming is more likely to depress me than the cold. Until last summer, you sort of depressed me. This has changed. Suddenly, I'm a fan of you. I like your warm nights. I like spending warm days by the water. I like the adventures you bring. You’re for opportunities and joy. Summer is the time where I can swim before work and there are free outdoor events. Summer is for listening to Joni Mitchell and making popsicles.

Thank you, summer, for helping me learn to relax. I have come to realize everything comes and goes, so why not enjoy what's here?