School's Out

Spring fever has been making young and older students itching to get to summer for several weeks now. With the warmer weather, sunny days and break from school to look forward to, it's not hard to see why. School is wrapping up shortly (and already has for some) and everyone is ready for the magical and incomparable treat post-school'"summer break. The perfect time to toss out all your worn down pencils and toss all that math homework into the trash, in celebration of a three-month respite from classes taking up the bulk of your life.

As a graphic design student in college, my last day of class is often the most and least stressful of the quarter. We have final critiques on our design projects, turn them in, and then we're done. They're often short, to-the-point and never take up the entire class time, so what I enjoy doing is immediately go to the library and check out a handful of books while I wait for my next class.

Go to the library, you ask? On the last day of school? Of all the days during the year, the highest likelihood of the books I've been trying to get a hold of are on that day. As a college student, finding time to budget what involves reading from non-textbooks is often hard, and since I was in grade school going to the library immediately after school is done has always been a tradition. Making time to still learn some things but being able to direct your own direction of study is what summer is all about, regardless if you're learning how to knit, taking basketball lessons or just simply wanting to read a few good books.

Taking a trip to the library may be on the bottom of the list in terms of things a student wants to do the final day of school, but it's free, in the same proximity as your final class and doesn't require that you begin reading those books immediately after checking them out. Having some sort of structure in place helps give some foundation upon which to better appreciate your summer break, rather than watch it unfold before your eyes and catch you by surprise when you realize it's already September again.

But that's not to say that I don't indulge in some more understandable celebratory events, like grabbing some delicious Chinese food and some snacks. The last day is meant to be a celebration of another chapter and another grade in your life closing, and the beginning of summer is the best time to indulge in the myriad possibilities that breaks give. Treating yourself to a job well done the entire year is entirely necessary, and whatever a treat means to you, indulge for the day -- whether that means checking out library books or eating Chinese take-out.