As I write this in my room there's a large poster on the wall facing me featuring 12 of some of the greatest American writers, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe and John Steinbeck. If I could ask any one of these writers a question, it would be this:
Did you go to summer school?
Yes, like everyone else, I'm planning what I'm going to do over summer break. And yes, like some people, I'm getting frustrated.
An ideal summer for students is a time to have off, a time to suspend constant studying and laboring over schoolwork. However, my worry is that summer is turning into a period where you must do something, such as take summer courses, get an internship, or get a job. Nowadays, adults look down on students (including myself) who don't have any particular plans.
Don't get me wrong, the summer provides a wonderful opportunity to do something you really want to do. But that doesn't mean that you should be obligated to do something. After all, if we need to do something over the summer, why do we have time off in the first place?
I can't count how many times people have asked me, "What are you doing over the summer?" I don't know yet. Leave me be.
I've been planning for months now what I should do over summer, and I have gotten nowhere. My father wants me to get a job, and my mother wants me to get an internship. The only person who is quite relaxed about it is, surprisingly, my school counselor. Even I yell at myself for not having any plans, and I'm the one who doesn't want to have plans in the first place.
If you think I'm contradicting myself, I'm not. I know what it's like to have absolutely nothing to do over summer break. It gets quite boring. I tried reading and watching movies all the time, and although it satisfies the English major in me, it does get a little tiresome. That's why I'm looking for something to do. My point is that we, as students, shouldn't be pressured to do something spectacular, like an internship in Boston or studying abroad in Europe. These might sound like exaggerated examples, but I know people who have done these things.
We have enough to worry about over the school year. Should we elongate the stress we feel during school to the whole year? It seems a bit silly to me and it's something we can easily correct.
Expectations have gotten high. It's turned into a time where you're expected to add something to your resume instead of the break it's supposed to be. And if I'm wrong - if summer is truly a time when you're supposed to further your education instead of taking a break - then for God's sake let President John B. Simpson come out and make that announcement to the entire school.
As much as I have been critical about the concept of summer, guess what: I'm a hypocrite. After a lot of thought, I have recently signed up to take four summer courses. We'll see if I actually take them all. I've signed up to take them partly to fulfill some school requirements and partly for fun. All but one of them are English or philosophy classes, my favorite subjects.
I have given into the great expectations. I hope, however, that though my martyrdom I can inspire others to rebel against school and peace out throughout summer break. And when I'm in a hot, stuffy classroom in May, June, July, and August, it is my hope that I can learn if Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick over summer break when he was a student.
