"Summertime and the livin' is easy."As I listen to these prophetic words sounding from my Sublime CD, I reminisce about summers past. Memories full of all-night parties, daylong jet skiing adventures, moneymaking and just plain lounging. Chilling with friends for a solid three months before even having to think of a class, pool parties and glimpses of girls in tiny bikinis are great moments that will live on forever in everyone's dreams.
But that Chemistry book beside my computer brings my dreams to a screeching halt. This summer there will be no jet skis, no pools and worst of all, no bikinis for me. Instead of living the good life, I seem to be trapped in a new version of "Snow White and the Seven Dorks." Charlottesville may be going through a bit of a heat wave, but you'd never be able to tell by looking at most of my friends and I. We look like we're still trapped in this year's winter wonderland, pale as ghosts from being stuck inside constantly studying.
Whether it's rain or class, something always seems to be standing in the way of my favorite summer activities. I'd never have thought my first Charlottesville summer would be this way. Summer in good 'ole c-ville is a complete 180 from Charlottesville during the school year. Most of the excitement of the typical year is gone. Only a fraction of friends are in town. And all this "extra time" I thought I would have is still hiding somewhere out of my reach. On top of that, the little bit of free time that I used to spend goofing off and playing video games seems to have vanished as well. No time to party. No time to chill. No moneymaking. No sun. No bikinis. No fun.
I've made the classic mistake of trading my summer fun for boot camp, CHEM 141 style. Never, not even in my first year, have I had a Monday through Friday 8 a.m. class. Somehow, however, I thought it'd be a good idea to plan two months of my summer with this schedule in mind. Rolling out of bed at 7 a.m. every morning is bad enough, but not getting paid for it, well that's a flat out crime.
Many of you feel my pain. Summer classes seemed like a brilliant idea at first. We had that productive little voice telling us, "Hey, if I can get this class over with during the summer, I can avoid having to put up with an entire semester of it. Fall will be awesome. I mean it's only a few hours a day, how bad can it be?"I have learned that that voice was wrong. We were way off.
As if being in class for six hours a day isn't bad enough, the amount of work that has to be done outside of class is triple the amount done during the typical year. The weekends aren't off limits either. Instead of 'chillin out, maxin', relaxin' all cool' I spent no less than 24 hours in the Chemistry building this past Friday to Sunday. By the time I laid down to try to get sleep Sunday night, I felt "like I was taking crazy pills."
Even though this Charlottesville summer hasn't been quite what I expected, it has had its bright spots. No matter how tough classes may be (my heart goes out to the poor souls in Organic Chemistry), the atmosphere is much more conducive to learning. Classes of fifty instead of five hundred are a definite perk; however, the hands-down best part of a Charlottesville summer is the people.
Summer makes friends out of strangers, close friends out of acquaintances and best friends out of friends. One of the few good parts about summer classes is the people you meet that you probably would have never had the opportunity to meet during the year. In a class of five hundred it's a bit more awkward to approach a random person, but summer classes can bring quite a few new friends into your life. In a course that involves a lot of work and group study, I see more of my classmates than I do my other friends or family. And even though it seems like the Grounds are only sprinkled with people, it amazes me everyday how many friends I run into, whether it be at the Bookstore or AFC, that I had no idea were here. The acquaintances you barely knew through the year turn out to be some of the coolest people to hang out with during the summer, and the good times shared with old friends keep on rolling. The opportunity to hang out with some great new people is what the Charlottesville summer is all about.
Despite the fact that this summer has been jam-packed with intense classes, (you'll need sunglasses to prevent blinding yourself from looking at my skin) and there aren't a whole lot of bikinis
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