We only have a limited amount of "free" summers compared to the many summers we experience in a lifetime.

As a kid I always imagined my summers in late high school and college to be filled with late nights, loud music, concerts and partying with friends. As I grew older I realized they were not quite as I expected. They were filled with binge watching Netflix or whatever was on TV, working 40 hours a week to pay for both school and life and also studying for the occasional summer class.

Between all those realities were a few dream summer days sprinkled in that actually felt like the stereotypical summer that I had imagined as a kid. Those were the nights where you had aches in your jaw from smiling too much and a tickle in your throat from singing too loud. The nights where your head rushes as you see your favorite artist enter onto the stage in front of 30,000 other people. The feeling in your heart of pure happiness and feeling the memories your crew and you are creating. Those will always be cherished moments.

Every year as summer approaches, many people make big plans for camping trips or long family vacations. That’s because summer is when people feel they have free time and can slow down more. Families have barbecues with neighbors and spend time with their kids.

Summer feels freeing at all ages but especially in your late teens before real “adulting” kicks in. As a teen or twenty-something, summer is where you find yourself. Those few summers will feel important after they've passed because you realize many of those summers created you. As you move into adulthood in your early to mid 20's you will cherish those free summers and move on to the summers that just feel like one of the four seasons, but with a smaller sense of freedom.