School's Out for Summer

"School's Out" by Alice Cooper

"Nooooo more pencilsssss, nooooo more boooooks, nooooo more teacher's dirtyyyyy loooooks!"

Um, Sam... Summer is over.

NOT FOR ME! I finished summer session, and I have a week off before I start fall quarter. Yipppppeeeee!

Don't get me wrong. I love school. Not a single week has elapsed since I completed summer session, and I have already started to prepare for the upcoming quarter. With some of the course websites up and running, I was able to read the syllabi, enter important dates into my calendar, and compile a list of required books (it's like the one from Hogwarts but less magical). 

I am tempted to buy and read my textbooks before the courses even begin. However, I thought I would resist my masochistic side and take this time to appreciate all the things that are difficult to do with a demanding course load:

1. Sleep. Enough said.

2. Just lie in bed in the early morning with no blaring alarm to kil- ahem... turn off. It is nice to rise with the sun.

3. Lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling. I do this frequently for study breaks, usually thinking to myself, "I wish I didn't have so much to do. I could just lie here for as long as I want." Of course, when I actually have free time, I never get the urge to do this, but I will oblige Delirious-From-Finals-Sam. 

[Lies on floor and stares at ceiling]

...

[Approximately two seconds later]

...

"Yup. This is boring."

4. Leave work to actually go home and relax. My co-workers often tease me for my measly ten hours a week, but when you add classes and a few internships, it really adds up to much more than the typical forty hours a week. When they clock out, they are free to do what they like. When I clock out, I need to chip away at my ever increasing mountain of work.

5. Work out. Hypothetically speaking... Oh, wait! I did work out! I went stand-up paddling yesterday, and my (lack of) abs are still aching to prove it. Six-pack, here I come.

6. Read books of the fiction variety. I recently finished The Spectacular Now.

7. Watch television and movies. Oh wait, I guess I do that during the school year as well. All the good shows just have to run during the academic year. Six days until Castle!

8. Stay up late because I want to, not because I have to.

9. Rejoice in the return of optimism and self-confidence. Large work loads, unrelenting fatigue, and unfavorable odds tend to scare them away... Poor little guys.

10. Learn new things because even when I leave the classroom, I will remain a humble student.