There’s something about the first few weeks of school. Everyone comes back to campus with sun kissed (or in my case, burnt) shoulders, looking toned and excited with smiling faces, and a relaxation that won’t show again until we leave in May. What is it about summer that makes us better versions of ourselves?
Summer is a break. Whether you did nothing, had a full time internship, were traveling across the globe, or stuck in class, the season is a break from the sometimes monotonous pace of school, the classes, the grueling homework, the endless commitments, and of course, the cold! So, when the slight chill of fall begins to seep into the spectacular Bucknell sunset and the colors fade from rainbow to gray, don’t fret dear ABC’s, you can still keep summer alive throughout the year with a few simple tweaks to your normal routine.
Make a List
Remember the last few days of class, when the weather is just getting warm and the campus is abuzz with the excited anticipation that marks the end of the year and the beginning of warm summer days? All that stands between you and summer are those few last finals. The quad becomes a beach, ACE starts giving out popsicles, and your meticulous notes transform into a bucket list for summer. This list holds all the possibilities of the perfect three months away from the bubble, and you spend your time trying to accomplish each and every item on the list.
The Bucknell Collegiette lives on to-do lists so why not make a to-do/bucket list for the semester as well? I’m not talking about what club you want to become president of or what homework you have to do before you get to that super Saturday.
I’m talking about a genuine list of activities that will make your semester great. Take a trip to reptile land. Go to Zumba class with your roommate. Channel your creativity into making a scavenger hunt around Lewisburg for you and your sorority sisters. The most important part? Make sure you schedule it like you would a club meeting or class to make sure you do it. By infusing your semester with a little fun and adventure, you can hold onto that freedom and creativity that summer brings.
Put Touches of Summer in Your Dorm
When the blossoms of summer fade into the multi colored leaves of fall, I always feel a touch of sadness. When the leaves and later snow start to fall, make sure you have touches of summer in your room to serve as a pick me up. Whether this is shells from your beach vacation, a concert ticket from a summer in New York, a scent that reminds you of warmer days, or a salad you ate obsessively when the sun didn’t set till after 8:00 p.m. That small bit of summer will warm up even the coldest of snow days and bring you straight back to sunny skies, tanned shoulders, and beach filled days.
Stay Relaxed
One of the greatest parts of summer is the disappearance of the never ending to-do list running through our heads throughout the year; occupying so much of our time we barely feel we can breath without missing a meeting or messing up an assignment. The Bucknell collegiette is a motivated, highly driven, and busy woman but a major consequence of our overscheduled-ness is that it leads us to forget our relaxed summer selves. So, when that list gets infinitely longer as the semester kicks into full gear, how do you stay relaxed? Bucknell offers great yoga and pilates classes that will help refocus your energy and slow you down, if only for an hour. If exercise isn’t your forte, consider investing 5-10 minutes a day to do relaxation breathing. Here’s a list of some great relaxation techniques, some people stick 3 stickers on their computer to remind them to relax, or make sure you’re incorporating activities that keep you calm. Finally, always keep perspective. A quote I love is “ask yourself in a year from now, will this matter?”, if the answer is no, stop worrying about it so much and move forward.
So here we are. With school on the horizon and summer slipping through our ever-grasping fingers, it is essential to hold on to those last golden days of the season and know how to inject a little summer heat into the school year. Unless you are a winter person. Then get excited because your season is right around the corner!