It’s August 19 as I write this, which means I’ll be back in college in just about a week and all I can think about is how incredibly fast this summer went. I closed my eyes for a moment and it was gone. It is true when they say the older you get, the faster life goes. I am realizing that more and more each year. I think it’s crazy to compare summer when I was a young kid verses summer being a young adult. There is more than a few large differences between the two.

When I was younger, summer was a full and free two months of no worries, no obligations and no responsibilities. It was just a time to hang with friends, stay up all night and do whatever we wanted to do. There was no job telling us when we had to clock in, no summer class telling us to finish an assignment and our brain never told us we should go to sleep soon so we can function at work tomorrow. Summer has a different feel, it doesn’t seem as separated from the year as it used to because we still have to complete things as if it was any month. As a young kid, I would have so much time to kill, so much time to waste.

This summer in particular really taught me how adult life is going to be. Barbecues and beach time is limited, it takes so much effort to get a group of friends together because of job schedules, it’s not a simple lets go tomorrow, it takes planning and a few changes to make a free day with the girls happen. There were also multiple parties I missed out on because I had to wake up at 5 a.m. to go scan and bag groceries. If that was when I was 15-16, I would have easily been there and up all night with no worry in the world about how I would feel the next day because I had no obligations to wake up to. Priorities before parties is what is now I guess.

Summer vacation is not ice cream trucks and lemonade stands anymore, its work and maybe some free time to see a friend here and there. On top of work this summer, I had an internship which cut my time even worse than it already was. All I know is summer isn’t the same as a young adult, the vibe is different and it makes me wish I appreciated summer more when I was younger. I feel I took for granted of the time, I didn’t realize it would end eventually.

These last few summers, especially this one made me realize summer will never be the way it was as a kid. Time keeps moving forward and responsibilities need to be met regardless of the month as an adult. Goodbye to another summer, hello to a new school year.