Summer is a wonderful two month break from the harsh expectations and deadlines of the school year. Most of us expect it to be the best two months of the year due to movies, social media and advertisements showing endless beach trips with perfect tans and a whole lot of sun.
Let’s not forget the late night adventures and friend groups making memories through the summer. We expect summer to be exciting, carefree and unforgettable. However, in reality, summer is often much different from what people imagine.
We all expect summer to be a time of peace with little care to the world. Students sleep in, go on vacation, hang out with friends on a daily basis and relax from all the stress school puts on us.
However, it’s almost never the case, and to be honest, it can be really disappointing. Many people end up getting a summer job, and although some view it as fulfilling, it is yet another heap of responsibilities in the time meant to be free of them.
If this isn’t you, there’s also the handful of people that end up staying home because there’s no one home to give them a ride to the places they want to go. That’s when the phone comes into play. People start watching TikTok or looking on Instagram, seeing all the people that are outside having the time of their lives. Some people binge watch movies all day, movies that often depict the “perfect” summer: getting a significant other, hanging out with friends or tanning on the beach.
Emotions start to kick in, and this is when students, or people in general, become lonely or regretful. This is because they’re stuck on their phones or stuck watching television, seeing the dream of summer, watching their lives not relate to the ones on the screen.
Another reality of summer is that too much free time is not always relaxing. During the school year, we get easily overwhelmed because we are busy with school, homework, or working. However, summer comes after 10 long months of school, we get way too much free time than we need, making students feel unproductive and frustrated. The days begin to blend together, and, before we know it, school is back in session.
“My expectations for summer are like hanging out with friends everyday, going to the lake, having cute outfits, pulling all nighters and just having the best summer ever. But the reality is I’m usually bored half the time, sleeping all day, stuck at home cause I can’t drive, and working. It honestly makes me feel kind of disappointed sometimes because summer goes by so fast and never feels as exciting as I imagined it,” freshman Jayden Smith said.
In my opinion, I believe that we need to start putting ourselves out there and getting off the phone or turning off the TV because that is just how we get stuck in the never ending cycle of summer fever.
Even if it’s a walk outside or playing with pets, at least we can say we have done something.
“Most teenagers say that summer is the best season. It is warm, relaxing, and fun. Ask any student during the school year, and they’re sure to say they can’t wait for summer to arrive. But when summer finally comes, our expectations for relaxation and self-improvement often turn out to be mere fantasies,” Karthick Ramadugu from The Uproar said.
Instead of staying on the couch and watching television or doomscrolling on our phones, put them down for a second and enjoy what time we have away from school, taking the time to actually have the “perfect” summer.
