Although we may try to deny it, our summers often look the same despite the years that go by. With only a couple fleeting months of freedom left, here are common stages of a typical college student’s summer to help you cope with the vacation blues.
Stage 1: Excitement and optimism
As you finish your finals, you are filled with a sense of optimism and excitement. Determined to make this one of the best summers of your young-adult life, you want to go above and beyond. You might even start counting down the days until you can finally binge your favorite shows. Additionally, some people plan a couple of weekend trips with friends and create a list of hobbies to continue.
Stage 2: Questioning what to do with your free time
After the first few weeks of summer, the inevitable starts to happen: boredom. After watching everything on your Netflix recommended list, you start to question whether you’re being productive enough. You pick up the occasional hobby here and there, but after almost burning down your kitchen trying to bake cookies, you realize some hobbies are better left untouched. Hopefully you’ll find something to fill the time you have left this summer.
Stage 3: Where has the time gone?
Someone play “Where’d All the Time Go?” by Dr. Dog. With only a month of summer left, you experience the exact opposite of stage two and wonder where the time has gone. Those weekend trips you talked about during stage one are still left in the “planning” stages. Similarly, the applications you planned to submit during the summer are still unfinished on a Google document. If we’re being honest with ourselves, we probably spent most of our time scrolling through Instagram or TikTok.
Stage 4: Cramming everything you’ve wanted to do in the last week of summer
As the summer winds down, you might start to feel a sense of dread. As a result, you cram as much as you can in those last two weeks. From going to the beach to setting up numerous gatherings with different friends in a single day — nothing is off-limits as you count the days until you have to step foot on Sproul Plaza again. Eventually, you’ll start feeling socially drained but tell yourself it’s worth it. After all, you’ll definitely need a response to this commonly asked question: “So, what’d you do this summer?”
Stage 5: Accepting summer’s over
On the last day of summer as you begin packing your bag for your first day of class, you finally accept that vacation is over. Those three months were both glorious and dull, but you’ve made plenty of good memories with the time you were given. For the things you may have missed out on doing, you hold onto the hope that you will have enough time next summer.
Well, that’s it! As we push through the summer, be sure to keep these stages in your mind to help you be better prepared.
