Summer is known as the season where kids and college students finally have a few months' reprieve from classes; it's the time to sit back, catch up on neglected Netflix shows that have already been spoiled on Twitter when they first came out; the time to relax on the beach and get a tan.

At least, I know that I would like to soak up the sun if I knew that I wouldn't return home with burning skin and the need to cover my body with aloe for the next two weeks in exchange for half an hour with the sun. I've made the joke several times over again that I can say the word "sun" and begin to freckle, or that looking outside will give me a sunburn, but it's hard to forget all of the times I've been burned to a crisp. At least once a year, I find myself lying in bed with a trusty bottle of aloe within reach, unable to do anything other than suffer the burn and pray that it will stop hurting.

Only last month, when the warm weather broke out and people begin to spend time outside after class, I knew that I was in for a rough time when my professor said that we would have class outside. While the rest of my classmates rushed outside, so excited to get out of the classroom, I asked myself why I forgot to bring my sunscreen in the case this would happen. When my class ended after only half an hour of sitting outside in the sun, I looked in the mirror to find my arms, legs, and face a bright red.

Last year, my friend and I went to a local park to hang out and enjoy the warm weather, because it was cloudy and we thought we would be safe from the sun. Imagine our surprise when we went inside to find that, in the middle of what looked like it would become a tornado, we were both sporting angry red sunburns that lasted two weeks.

It may seem overly dramatic, that surely I must be exaggerating. Not everyone needs 85+ SPF to sit by a pool or dread going outside on vacations because the last thing you want is to have your skin peeling in the middle of a nice dinner. And that's entirely correct: not everyone gets burned as easily as I do.

The American Cancer Society notes that some people tan while exposed to sun, and others burn, with the root cause of melanocytes. People with darker skin, who produce more melanin, are more likely to tan because the pigment aids in blocking the UV rays from the skin, whereas those of a lighter skin tone, such as myself, do not have the same defense, and therefore burn more easily.

While all people should wear sunscreen to protect their skin, others are more susceptible to damage and sunburn. Which is why I usually spend my Summer indoors, or drenched in sunscreen for the short periods of time when I sit outside.