Summer is viewed as a time to have fun, let loose and catch up on life.
Being a Southern California native, I have reserved feelings about summer. Long story short, I hate Summer, something about 100+ degree weather is just upsetting to me.
Yet, I appreciate the somewhat free time summer brings into my life. Being a full-time student and working, what seem like an insane number of jobs during the school year, I have little to no free time between the months of August and May. But, come June, when I only work one job and I have an insane amount of free time, I like to make a list of all the things to catch up on. A list that, I feel, every college student works on all school year so that come Summer, we can start checking stuff off of it. These are the top five things on the list accompanied with subsections of some specific items you might want to look into.
1. TV Shows
While Netflix, Hulu, and all the other sites, that provide the perfect procrastination distraction, have plenty of shows for us to binge watch while we study for our mid-terms. The reality is that not all are favorite shows are on there, and if they are, the most recent episodes are not available to us without having to pay fees (this applies mainly to Hulu). So what better time then Summer to catch up on the latest season and episodes of those shows you have been meaning to watch but didn't have an actually TV to watch them on so you couldn't, like Game of Thrones and Grey's Anatomy.
2. Places to see
With Summer comes adventure, which means discovering new places such as: the beach, the lake, local cafes, flea markets/swamp-meets and the mall to name a few. Granted not all these things may be available to you, and if they are — check them out! Summer means long days, which means plenty of time to go seek out some local adventure sites. Luckily, Southern California is surrounded with these places, but if you don't live near one of these places a road trip may be the perfect solution.
3. Books
All those books that you have been buying throughout the year because you would tell yourself, "this will be my pleasure read during the summer, since I'll have so much time". Well it's time to take to books off the shelf, dust them off and crack them open. I'm personally working on my first of four pleasure reads. So far so good.
4. Movies
Literally all of those movies you and your friends said you guys would go watch as soon as they came out in theaters, but then realized you had a test, work, and/or were just to broke to go watch them. Hit up your local Red Box, Amazon, or whatever method of movie rental you use and start adding them to your cart.
5. Family
While we may take family time for granted during the Summer, it's important to actually make an effort to spend time with our family. During the school year, if we're lucky, we see them at night (if you're a commuter) and on weekends (if you dorm), but sometimes it feels like we only see them a fraction of a minute over FaceTime or Skype. It's important to value the time we have with family, if anything to make up for all the time we don't get to see them. So plan a picnic, movie night, or mini road trip to that local place you've been meaning to go and make memories with your family, that might just become the best part of Summer.
