It’s a lesson we all inevitably learn… growing up sucks. Maybe the worst part is those grown-up jobs, excluding teachers, take away the one redeeming quality of the public school system: summer vacation. As you grow up, summer vacations change significantly, and not necessarily for the better.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
When that final bell rings, you ran out the door followed by a trail of paper mache and poorly made art projects. The most exciting thing about summer was popsicles, outdoor forts, and if you were lucky enough to have parents that didn’t work during the day, maybe a trip or two to the waterpark. Ahh, to be young and carefree.
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
These summers were all about one thing: boys. Between sneakily following your crush around the mall with your BFF and rolling your eyes at your parents, these summers were full of drama and junk-food-filled-sleepovers.
HIGH SCHOOL
Ah, the summers where you dream of lazy days in a poolside lounge chair, developing your beautiful golden tan while sipping mimosas and summer cocktails. However, since you aren’t on Gossip Girl and can’t spend your summer in the Hamptons, you probably spent it lazing around watching tv, hanging out at the local swimming hole with your friends, and maybe working a part-time job – which let’s face it, sounds pretty good.
COLLEGE
Woo, summer vacation!! Oh wait… you probably have a job, a summer class, an internship, or some combination of the three to make sure that you have no time to be a kid anymore. But hey, wherever you’re spending your time this summer, at least you can probably drive yourself there instead of relying on someone’s mom to organize carpool.