As the sunshine pierced through the morning curtains, I woke up groggily and felt its warmth. This was one of a few days of summer 2025.
The sun was my constant companion this summer. As I basked in its warmth, leaning backward in my chair, connecting with nature, questions swirled in my mind. When will I get a job? When will I graduate?
Yet, the sun helped me. A lot.
The summer was spent doing lots of things. Going to the movie theater, for the first time, on my own, with friends. Spending time near bodies of water. Enjoying an American Fourth of July, hearing old country songs, old school bangers (Party in the USA, anyone?) and retro band songs.
Summer days were also spent uncontrollably laughing at the least funniest jokes one could muster. They were spent finding hidden dolls in videos. They were also spent doing idyllic summer barbeques in the backyard with college friends, sitting as the sun went down, the air a perfect cacophony of nitrogen, oxygen, and free radicals.
Don’t worry, I wore plenty of sunscreen.
We all floated and danced in summer’s waves. Trees looking majestic against the light blue twilight.
Summer was also spent taking walks in idyllic public parks, watching kids play, and reminiscing about when I was in their shoes.
But Summer was also spent wondering about life. Wondering about my upcoming 25th birthday and thinking about how half of my 20s are about to be over. Wondering when my parents’ insurance ends. Wondering what my life will look like after graduation and what my next steps are.
It was also spent thinking about my grandparents and aunt and how they would have reacted if they saw my young adult self, though I know they are watching from above.
Summer was also spent away from the negativity, which gave me a new kind of peace, and one that still carries itself as the new school year commences.
It also had me thinking about other people in my age demographic. Where was everyone? Some were out chasing city life and meandering skyscrapers. Some were working and taking breaks from school. Some were doing their first internships out of graduation. Some travelling.
Former high school folks followed me on Instagram, saw me in my idyllic happiness, and unfollowed me when they couldn’t take another sip of the oasis I’ve created for myself. Others simply… are.
And I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that. We are all beings after all. To simply be is to fully soak in the human experience, irrespective of one’s accomplishments or lack thereof. And maybe that’s what summer’s about.
Summer was also spent watching movies, and a lot of them. My brother has impeccable taste, always recommending Christopher Nolan masterpieces or art films. It works out fine for me. I am waiting for the day we finally watch something I want to watch.
Though I didn’t go anywhere out of California this summer, maybe the best vacations take place at home. I time travelled through old photo albums and recovered photos that I thought were long lost.
I learned how to cook (finally!), rediscovered how relaxing a bubble bath could be after living for years with a broken one, spending time with family friends that had seen me as a baby, nourishing my thirsty plants and taking care of their little leaves and flower buds.
Summer was spent cultivating a deeper connection with God and the universe. Restoring things that were taken away from me.
It was also spent writing and reading, of course! My two (out of many) loves. Sometimes rediscovering how to write old-school letters and sending them to someone in need.
I cringe when I say old school, because they weren’t so old-school in the early 2000s and early 2010s when I was little.
I still wonder if they were received. I wrote four letters this year only to discover that they were never received because of formatting issues. Writing letters is hard! But in retrospect, they did improve my handwriting and spatial awareness on the page. Maybe there was something old school writing back in the day.
Summer’s slowly fading, as the cyclical seasons would have it. Though it still lingers. The sun is still bright, and it still shines. I can feel those days when it doesn’t entirely feel like summer, when autumnal energy is trying to make its grand entrance.
And as the school year starts, I sit and wonder, how has this summer out of the last six summers I experienced cultivated this peace and relaxation in me that might never leave? I hope it doesn’t. It’s my new shield. And I thank summer for giving it.
2025 may have started dreary, but this summer, something changed. So as this new school year starts, let’s bring everything that summer gave us and cultivate it. May the summer of 2025 be the seeds of great progress ahead.
What did you do this summer? Let us know at @HerCampusSJSU.