Oh the sweet feelings of summer are in our midst. The free time is much needed, the sun is ever present, and the air is… well the weather is still… alright we are in Texas so it isn’t too much to brag about, but everything else is basically ideal. With summer comes the hope and opportunity that one doesn't normally have because the sweet Lord in Heaven has graced us with the gift of time. I’m not sure if I’m the only one who has a list of things to accomplish during the summer months, like potentially writing the next great American novel, giving becoming “hot” a chance, teaching myself to play the Ukulele, or maybe even learning how to drive stick—you never know. You get me. Anyway, these 3 months are filled with endless opportunities and the possibility of returning to school in the fall as the ultimate version of myself.

Summer seems like a utopia, does it not? Yet, there is one thing missing: my home away from home. I find myself missing my friends who have turned into family during my time spent at Baylor. Unfortunately, we can’t all stay together, and communication is reduced to snaps, texts, and Facetime dates. I love that I enjoy going to a school so much that it is a missed during the break, but there seems to be a perpetual dilemma: the more you establish your roots in one area the more you become uprooted in another.

The good news is that this is the hard yet rewarding part about growing up. The place you’ve called home for the past 18 years has served its purpose of providing a place of comfort and familiarity. Your home is not replaced, but the cool thing about going to college is you build your own safe place and community. These are the infamous shaping years. It feels so permanent and life changing, but coming from a now senior in college, these years fly by. Before you can even blink…you're done.

I've been spending all this time feeding my college lifestyle like it will be my forever. I would spend my time at school with my college friends just to come home to my community at home each and every break. Yet, this year it has become clear to me as some conversations have started to go stale and as I become more focused on my future endeavors. I see which relationships are worth further pursuing and which ones I should leave in the past. That's when I realized it is okay to grow out of relationships along with the places that go along with them. This is not to say you should abandon everyone and everything. You should just be intentional because the time is coming where the decisions you make directly correlate with your future, and you won’t have the luxury of going back and forth. These years will mold you, so take advantage and lean on them so that when you graduate on to bigger and better things you will be absolutely—beyond a shadow of a doubt—ready.