Summer. It's a season in the year, a time when most students are off on vacation. It means so many different things to so many different people. Some choose to spend it resting and relaxing -- watching just a little too much Netflix. Others choose to spend it tirelessly working at a job or an internship, while others choose to spend it exploring the world around them. However you spent this past summer, you probably learned something. Whether it be a new TV show, a new language, a new local coffee shop, or something about yourself. Whatever it was you learned something.
Coming back home.
As I left campus in May, I was ready for summer to start. Did I know what I was doing this summer? I thought I did. I planned to take eight dance classes a week. I planed to work at a summer camp for disabled children. I planed to teach private voice lessons. Did I do all those things? Yes, I did. But were those the things that made my summer great? No. As it so happens this summer I learned that the universe has more in store for us than what we plan.
Maintaining your passions.
Maintaining your passions and drive for your respective majors over the summer and becoming independent is not easy. It's easier said than done. During the year, we are constantly reminded of our responsibilities to our school work and to bettering ourselves so as to get somewhere in life -- whatever that means. But during the summer, we are left to do that on our own and whether we choose to do so or not is up to us. I found that taking eight dance classes a week was not easy. I thought that I would go and be amazing, and everyone would want to be me; oh, how that was not the case. I went and struggled, but with every trip, every fall, every mistake I picked myself up and said that the next time I did it I wouldn't fall. Sadly, it didn't work out and I kept falling, but I kept picking myself back up. If you want it enough, you'll keep trying until you get it. It's not easy, but you find those small things that remind you why you are choosing to do what you do.
Taking adulthood one issue at a time.
Adulthood is hard! Okay, granted college isn't fully adulthood yet, but it's close. This summer was the first summer of paying rent, car repairs, and computer repairs with money from my personal paychecks. It's not easy when you have to figure out whether to pay to repair your car or to repair your computer. Or you have to figure out if you can see your friends who you haven't seen in ages because of your crazy work schedule. You want to do it all, but you can't. I learned that taking things one issue at a time works. And yes, it's easier said than done because most of us want it all done in an instant, but life is funny that way. It usually never works out all at once. Take it one step at a time. Is it faster? No. But is it doable? Yes.
Going back.
All in all, it has been a summer of experience, fun, and learning. This summer has helped me understand that each of us is at our own pace in life. It helped me understand who I am and how it's my own choices that make myself ready for life, the world, and all the challenges that come my way.
