Who doesn’t love summer? You get to go on vacation, take a break from classes, catch up on all of the sleep you’ve been deprived of, and soak up the sun. While all these things are wonderful, it wasn’t until recently that I’ve been starting to wonder if summer is over-hyped.
My main summer activity is working. Ever since I turned fourteen, I’ve been filling my time off with finding ways to earn money. The big fat paycheck you get your first week of summer is rewarding, but every week after that seems repetitive and starts to become dreadful. You start wishing you had more time off to do simply nothing at all, but giving up that money doesn’t seem like a plausible option. All summer long you’re stuck between not having a break or being broke, and for some reason, I always chose to devote my summers to work. Your non-working friends ask you to come over and swim for the day, but you don’t ever have time to enjoy being with them. Even currently, at 19 years old, I am working a full-time job, even when I don’t have classes, I will still be a busy bee. So while my friends are enjoying their time on road trips and pool days, I will be stuck, unable to take a day off, working.
One of the hardest things about summer is how fast it flies by. Week-long vacations feel like a flash, and hiking trips with friends are barely a memory. When you finally get the chance to relax and enjoy not having any school work, it is over and you have to start again. What’s even worse is that the transition from this break back to school is the most miserable time. What was supposed to be 4 months feels like a week, and you’re back to being stressed and craving sleep. The euphoria doesn’t last long enough, and it’s way too disappointing.
In some ways, summer also means separation. You make so many good memories with friends at school, and if you’re like me and live out of state, you have to put those memories on pause. Walking a few feet across the hall to a friend’s dorm to play Mario Kart isn’t as easy, but that’s okay. In a few months, you’ll be able to do all of these fun things again, but it doesn’t make the separation and transition back home easy initially.
Sung best by Lana Del Rey, summertime sadness is a very real feeling. This article is more negative than it was intended to be, but I just wanted to bring awareness to not always being beyond excited for summer, especially when most people are. My goal is to bring importance to soaking up the fun and happy moments while you can because time flies by and you’re back to reality in the blink of an eye.
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