Summer school doesn’t always sound appealing, but spending summer on campus doesn’t have to be a drag. It’s an easy dodge to all the stress of summer planning, and your familiar haunts are guaranteed to be way less crowded. For better or worse, you’re on campus for the summer and you know a few things to be true:
1. You find your summer buddies.
It’s weirdly easier to make friends now that everyone’s gone. You cozy up to your friends on campus, and you get friendly with whoever else got marooned there over the summer. Ok, so your options for socializing are a little more limited, but that just makes for closer bonds and more beers with your summer buds.
2. You can finally get a seat in the coffee shop.
No more crowds, no more long lines for lattes, no more study crunch right before finals. Campus is all yours and you are going to sit at that corner table just as long as you damn well please.
3. Things get sl-o-o-o-ow.
No surprise, things are way, way slower when school’s not in session. But that can be a good thing. No academic pressure means way more time for reality tv, hard cider and bike riding.
4. You find the secret summer party culture.
You can still have summer fun (and even summer lovin’) without leaving campus. Bonfires? Skinnydipping? Barbecues? Every campus has its small but pleasantly buzzed party culture, even in the dead of summer.
5. You chill way out.
Sometimes forced relaxation is the best relaxation. Even if you’re usually all about the extra-curriculars and the late night study sesh, summer at school means you must chill and stop over-scheduling. No guilt over slacking when you have no other choice.
6. You might actually learn something.
Maybe you’re at school for summer classes, or maybe you’re taking time to catch up or get ahead. Or maybe you finally learn how to light a charcoal grill, or shotgun a beer. Knowledge is power.
7. You can make bank.
Campus can be a summer job paradise. The community’s mellow, you don’t have to balance work with class, you’re saving money on travel, and you already know the ins and outs.
8. You get closer to your bar.
You and your favorite bar finally have some alone time together. Summer is the perfect opportunity to catch up on all that drinking you didn’t do during finals. Plus, fewer people means no more wading through a mass of sweaty bros during happy hour.
9. Sun sun sun.
You can do things outside? Like, with sun and air that moves and everything? It’s easy to forget that sweet, sweet summer weather happens even on the most collegiate of campuses. This definitely beats slogging to class in three feet of snow.
10. Was that here the whole time?
Yeah, sure, when you first read the college brochures you were totally going to hit up the archery range and go to the farmer’s market every weekend. But actual school gets in the way of all those weird, cool things to do around town. During summer, though, enough determination and boredom can get you up off your ass to explore the town you live in most of the year.