Summertime and the livin’s easy… In college, summer means going home, warm weather, and finally the end of those stressful finals. You’re done with the hectic end of the semester and home to relax and catch up with friends. Life is good! …For about a week, then the disagreements with parents or siblings kick in, and if you don’t have a lot of good friends from home anymore you’ve had the chance to catch up and you’re done. You’re ready to go back, not so much to the school work, but to anything and everything else that encompasses your collegiette lifestyle. Well, the truth of the matter is, you probably have about three months until move-in day.
Go to the beach! (Or a lake! Or a pool!) Where you live will decide which one of these options you’ll actually choose, but no matter what, spending time outside in the sun by some form of water is a must! You can go with a big group of friends. You can go with one or two people and have a best friend bonding day. You can even go alone, bring a book or your iPod and relaxing solo is totally acceptable.
Get a job! Now I’m not saying you have to go all out and get a 9 to5, five days a week desk job. If that’s what you want to do, by all means go for it. If you’re not feeling quite so ambitious, maybe try to take on something part time, and work a little bit throughout the summer. I guarantee when you go on that back-to-school shopping spree you’ll be happy you earned those few extra bucks.
Go to the Gym…But seriously. Get up in the morning and put your gym clothes on first thing. This way you’ll feel guilty if you don’t actually go. Bonus points if you can get out the door within half an hour of getting out of bed – your body burns more calories this way. If you’re anything like me, you’ll need a quick snack or small breakfast so you don’t get light headed while working out, but this shouldn’t stop you! You can shower when you get home after your work out, and you don’t really have to even put on make-up (okay, maybe a just little bit if you want). But really, every time you finish another work out you’ll feel better in general. As said by Elle Woods, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.” So do yourself a favor, and follow the advice of Nike: just do it.
Find a concert to go to! Summer is the best time to go to concerts. It’s much easier to stay out late, and sleep in the next morning. Also, outdoor venues are way more fun. Country concerts are huge in the summer, but there’s really something for you no matter what type of music you like. Speaking from personal experience, the Taylor Swift concert I went to last summer was one of the best days of my life. So go ticket hunting and take advantage of this prime activity.
Finally by this point in the summer, you’re almost definitely missing your friends from school. This situation is easily fixed, and gives you a good excuse to potentially get away from your hometown for a little while. Trips that require flying obviously need more advance notice, but if you have friends who are live closer, there should be nothing stopping you from hanging out with them. Day trips, overnight trips, or even mini road trips are all great ways to reconnect with your college friends over the summer!
Maybe you wish you could live at college all summer long, but the reality is most people can’t. So go home and relax for a while. Then when everything starts building up, turn to one, some, or all of these ideas to survive the summer at home.