This past Easter, I joined a friend on her trip home to New York City and spent the weekend enthusiastically exploring and being out of my element in my first Big Apple experience. If I were mean, I could bore you all with the trivial details and stories of my travels, but I won’t torture you. The point is I had an epiphany. And no, it’s not the kind the (former) University of California, Los Angeles student claims happens every time she does her political science homework.

It started as I excitedly walked out of Port Authority and saw the New York Times building. I mean, what aspiring journalist would not be. But it made me start thinking about how maybe I would one day walk out of Port Authority to go to my job there. Panic set in. Things are going so fast. Too fast.

It’s obvious the semester is ending, but my first year of college has come and gone too quickly for me to comprehend. While I — and everyone else — am counting days until the start of summer, summer isn’t what it used to be in elementary and middle school.

Summer was that time when people could have a break from school and the stress that goes along with it. Whether it was swimming lessons at a pool or lying on a beach with friends, it was something that refreshed you for the next semester of school. Having no priorities, such as extracurricular activities or schoolwork, was fun.

Now those days are long gone. I can barely remember such carefree days. Summer is a time to be productive and to tact something else onto one’s resume. If you spend the months being a bum and not allowing yourself to be burnt out, you’ll be behind as your peers acquire fascinating internships or jobs.

I am not saying there is anything wrong doing this considering I’m going to London this summer. But do something because you love to do it or because you want to do something, not because it looks good or it’s what’s expected. Employers and peers should recognize that we all need a little time to relax and, well, be a kid. Enjoy your youth while you still have it.

— Compiled by Colleen Bidwill, asst. feature editor, cbidwill@syr.edu

Published on April 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm