What to Do During Your Summer Before College
Recently, I was talking to a friend about his summer before college, and he had this look in his eyes like he was being transported back to the best three months of his life as he relayed the events of that summer. He moved in with his aunt and uncle in a sleepy beach town and worked at a local restaurant by the bay. His off time was spent with friends from high school, devouring books on philosophy and music, and daydreaming about what his next four years would look like.
That time between high school and college is interesting: you feel immense freedom but are antsy to move into college and get started. You are equally nostalgic for your hometown but also ready to get out and try something new. You cling to old friendships and feel anxious about leaving them behind and having to start anew. And yet, there is something so beautiful in that anticipated fresh start.
I know you are all eager to move in and get your dorm decorated (does everyone still put up that “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” poster in their dorm or was that more of a 2014 thing?) and settle into your new schedule. But I am here to tell you this: slow down and savor your summer. The reality is, for many students, the summer before your first year of college may be your last summer of freedom. After you start college, your summers may be occupied with research, internships, and jobs—all of which can be exciting and wonderful, but they take time and energy. Even if you are working this summer or taking a course, revel in that downtime.
“If you were like me and eager to get out, slow down and appreciate the people around you who helped you become the person who will be going off to college in the fall.”
After I graduated high school, I counted down the days until my college move in, but I made the most of that summer. I worked at my family’s restaurant and while it was filled with typical family restaurant drama, it gave me the chance to spend my final days with my dad and co-workers who had known me since I was a child. If you were like me and eager to get out, slow down and appreciate the people around you who helped you become the person who will be going off to college in the fall. It’s not just your teachers, counselors, and parents who helped you realize your potential.
Outside of work, I dedicated my time to reading, something I had always wanted the time to do and now I had it. I tried baking and cooking and fell deeply in love with it. I visited my grandparents and finally took them out to dinner with the money I made through my summer job. Evenings were spent going through the top 25 horror movies of all time with my dad and going on late night drives with my newly obtained drivers license to local lookouts when I wanted to be reflective and in my feelings.
By the time I got to college in late August, I was really ready. I thought I had been ready in June, but I needed those three months to breathe, slow down, and reset before I could pour myself into my college experience. Hindsight is 20/20, but I look back on my college experience so fondly and I would like to attribute some of that to the summer before college. Whether you deposited at 11:59 pm on May 1st to your top choice or are exploring new options while on a waitlist, trust the process. You have made it this far for a reason: you deserve to have come this far because you came this far. The hardest part is over, so rest, relax, and dive into that Pinterest board of college décor you started in 9th grade. I know you’ve been waiting.