Now that summer has come to an end, I’ve had the chance to look back at everything I’ve accomplished in the past few months. I’ve also realized for the first time that there are some very obvious “stages-or phases-of summer”. I’m sure anyone who’s had a summer vacation before will relate to this list. Here is a list of the ten stages I’ve personally experienced throughout my summer break.

1. The “Pre-Summer” Excitement

You think it’s summer, but it’s not. This stage begins about a week or two (sometimes even more) before summer break even starts. During this stage, a person may find themselves having an incredibly difficult time focusing in class, they seem incapable of accomplishing homework/daily tasks, and can barely even get themselves out of bed in the morning. In this stage you know that you have a TON of work to be doing but because summer is right around the corner, your brain just doesn’t seem to know that you actually have a few more weeks of school left. My advice to someone in this stage is to keep fighting and continue to get all of your work done because that will make the start of summer even sweeter!

2. The "Full-Force" Excitement

This is the stage where you’ve finally made it! It’s your very first day of summer and you can’t stop thinking about all of the amazing things you’re going to do. This stage lasts for the first month or so of your summer. You’ve just suffered through months and months of an agonizing school year and you couldn't be happier to be free from the jailhouse that’s also known as “school”. The best thing to do in this stage is to actually create a little list for yourself of all of the things you want to accomplish this summer. Because you’re extra excited in this phase you’ll come up with some pretty awesome ideas.

3. The “Busy Bee”

Again, this stage lasts for the first month or so. This is when you’re finally starting to accomplish everything on your “summer bucket list”. Everyone is hanging out constantly, heading to the beach, shopping, going out to eat, and spending every second soaking up the sun. Things couldn’t be nicer during this part of the summer. In this stage, enjoy every second and try not to get caught up in the moment. It’s incredibly common in this stage to be in a rush all of the time and before you know it, it’s August already! And just because you’re taking things slow doesn’t mean you can’t be having fun every day! Just take your summer day by day and make it last as long as you possibly can.

4. Summer Procrastination

This is when you decide to set aside all of the summer homework you should be doing, and go out and do “more important things” instead. You keep telling yourself, “I’ll do it next week,” but let’s be honest, we all know that you’re really just kidding yourself. As lame as this may sound, finish the work you were assigned to do over summer right away. We all know you’re not going to want to do it later in summer and you’ll just end up forgetting about until the very last minute.

5. Short-Term Memory Loss

Speaking about forgetting things, this is the stage where everything and anything you’ve learned in school just completely disappears from your mind. You’ve pushed any thoughts about school as far back in your mind as you possibly could. If you’re in this stage, you’ve totally forgotten about all of the summer work you should be doing and can only focus on one thing-having an awesome summer. During this stage, it can be incredibly hard to focus on anything, so it’ll really take some self-discipline to finish any task you’ve been assigned.

6. Boredom

Sadly, many people experience this stage during their summer. It’s that time when you’ve completed almost everything on your summer bucket list, you’ve watched almost every show on Netflix, and the only thing you think you have left to do is sleep. If you’re experiencing this phase, I’m here to tell you that this is not the end! You may think your summer is slowly coming to an end and there’s nothing left for you to do but believe me, there is so much more out there for you! You can make this the best summer ever as long as you’re open to trying new things and are up for an adventure! Your summer doesn’t have to be boring as long as you keep trying and put forth some effort to have a great time.

7. Denial

This stage is most likely occurring at the beginning of August. You see the “back to school” advertisements and you hear your parents yelling at you to finish your summer homework, but you just refuse to believe that another school year is quickly approaching. You will not go shopping for school supplies and you just cannot imagine having to wake up and get yourself out the door early everyday in just a few weeks. Nope. Not happening.

8. The Sad Reality

Now it’s a little over a week before your first day back to school and you have finally accepted the fact that school is starting (or maybe you haven’t. It’s a little harder for some of us). During this stage, you spend a majority of your time mentally preparing yourself for the school year ahead of you. If you’re experiencing this phase, my advice to you is to keep having fun. Yes the end of summer IS sad, but that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to have a blast! Enjoy the rest of your summer and try your hardest to have a great end to your summer. Don’t give up on summer early and spend the end of your summer being a “sad sloth” (does that make sense?) because you might end up regretting it later on.

9. The “Back to School” Prep

This is the phase when you most likely go shopping for clothes, school supplies, and you finally start that summer homework you’ve forgotten about. Along with the school prep comes the “mental prep”. You have got to wake up and realize that (sadly) summer has come to an end. This definitely isn’t the most fun stage, but good for you for finally getting your work done!

10. The Last Day of Summer

This is one of the saddest days for a student or a teacher. My advice to anyone in this stage is to spend your last day right. For some people you may want to take some time for yourself and have an amazing and relaxing last day of summer on your own. In my opinion, I love spending my last day of summer with all of my friends because we’re all on the same boat and know that in less than twenty-four hours we’ll be at school, sitting in a miserable class. Some last few pieces of advice would be to get everything you need for school the next day organized the night before, get some great sleep, and realize how incredibly lucky you were to have such an amazing and unforgettable summer.

Let’s face it, summer doesn’t last forever. No matter how many times you wish on a shooting star, eventually that first day of school will appear. Just remember to make the most out of every day on summer break and don’t take a single second for granted. If you happen to be in stage nine or ten, I hope you had a great summer and I wish you good luck for the school year ahead of you!