Summer, the warm breeze, fresh air and stressless days. Students know the feeling all too well once the year ends. But we are also familiar with the excitement, telling everyone what you will do over summer or how eventful this summer will be. But then all in all it ends with bedrotting and doom scrolling. So how can someone make summer live up to the hype?
The first thing to understand is where we are. Many people never truly understand where we are. Colorado Springs is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the United States and to this day very highly ranked in natural beauty. For example Rifle Colorado, or Breckenridge Mountain, the great sand dunes and so much more.
But then the problem. Students are always ecstatic for the summer prior to the start, the possibilities exhilarate them, give them motivation, something to push for at the end of the year but it always ends in bedrotting and social media. Based on what I have seen and experienced, the reason this happens may be because of the lack of motivation after school ends. This loss of interest ruined the dreams the student had before the year ended.
So how can this be avoided? Well, keeping motivation is always the start. Once summer ends make sure to maintain the excitement for summer and instead of dreaming of it, go for it. For example if you really want to start hiking, geocaching or something close adjacent make plans and act on them. Get a friend or two and have them go with you. If it’s something that interests you and the group than the summer will not end the way it normally does
If this is to no avail, then try a new topic and repeat the cycle until you find something that interests the whole group and makes you want to go out and do that thing. If not then use the whole summer trying new things. Even if you do not find an interest then even then your summer was spent trying new things.
This way summer will never again be the way it was if you find a new interest preferably outside and do that as much as you can. And even if driving is not a possibility, making your parents drive you is always an option.
So now you may be asking yourself “What type of things should I do?” in order to start finding a new interest, compare possibilities with current interests. For example if you enjoy taking neighborhood walks and also admire the mountains. Then perhaps hiking. Or if you always enjoyed searching for and discovering things then geocaching is right up your alley. Or you can always revive Pokemon Go.
And finally remember that summer is never as long as you think it is and to savor the time you have. Summer is an opportunity to discover, learn and yearn.
