Ever since I was a child, summer has flashed by like a blink of the eye.  Most people would probably agree that it’s always this way.  The things we enjoy the most never seem to last as long as we would like them to.  All good things come to an end, or so they say.  When I was a kid, the first day of summer was like being released from prison.  “Free at last!  Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”  That was the general sentiment.  Yeah, I enjoyed school, but seriously, if you asked the average American child what they preferred, school or summer, and they answered school – I would suggest putting them in therapy immediately.  Yes, I suppose it’s healthy to love school, and it should be encouraged, but summer is the time when a child’s imagination runs wild, when they can explore personal interests, go on adventures, learn independence, drive their parents insane (and rightfully so, you chose to have the damn things), and reflect on what they learned in school (perhaps not consciously).  For as Thoreau once said, “It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.”  I can’t remember what particular movie it was, but a scene comes to mind where it is the last day of school, the bell rings, and its pandemonium – kids run out of the building screaming with joy, they burn their notebooks in a trashcan, and an ecstatic laughter fills the air.  That’s basically what summer felt like to me when I was a kid – Freedom.

When I was in college summer wasn’t quite the same.  In fact, I didn’t really enjoy summer remotely as much as I had as a kid.  I prayed for it to end at times.  Perhaps that’s because college embodied a new type of freedom.  College combined school and the freedom I felt during childhood summers into a beautiful hodgepodge of beer-infused tomfoolery.  My friends and I joked that our school basically was a summer camp.  It was on the water, we could go swimming whenever we wanted, take out kayaks or sailboats for free, and most of us played sports so we went to class and then practice – just like when we were kids.  On top of it all, there were no parents!  It was a jamboree, full of indefatigable amusement.  It was like Neverland and I was a lost boy – which is an appropriate comparison as some of my friends took on the appearance of homeless young orphans (white boys growing dreadlocks and whatnot).  Unadulterated freedom with synthetic consequences – that was college.  When you think about it, it’s not the most ideal way to prepare someone for the real world (but as one of my favorite professors once said, “The world is always real my friend”).  It’s really just 4 years of awesome denial; but also a time where you expand your mind and worldview, work out some of the kinks in your ever-budding adult personality, develop the foundation of your career, learn how to binge drink efficiently/tenaciously, and develop relationships that will last a lifetime.  College is a 4-year summer, and an awesome one at that.

The meaning of summer continues to change for me.  I believe that summer is a perspective, and not really a period of the year.  Yes, in most places summer is the time when school is out, it’s warm outside, you go to the beach, perhaps you have a short fling with the German nanny down the street (hasn’t happened for me yet, in fact, she doesn’t even exist, but my fingers are crossed), and you listen to crunchy jams whilst slurping down a refreshing beverage.  But what about the places where it’s warm all the time?  What marks the difference between summer and the rest of the seasons for people in those regions?  It’s perspective.  It is summer because they feel it is summer, because they think it is summer, because they BELIEVE it is summer.  It’s all about what you tell yourself.  Thus, summer can be perpetual – but you must open your mind to it.  Live your life under the conscious notion that you are free, that the world is full of endless possibility, and that it is your duty to enjoy yourself as often as you can while you are still breathing.  Take chances, be open, be happy.

It’s hard not to reflect on these things at the moment, as my “summer” draws to a traditional close.  But I refuse to adopt a conventional outlook about it.  My summer has been somewhat short-lived, in that it was really just a brief hello to the United States.  8 quick weeks.  It has been an American nap – a nice relaxing period between two fresh and different experiences abroad.  I just returned from an incredible 6-month adventure in Georgia, and now I am off to Scotland.  In some ways it feels very rushed, but simultaneously very natural.  I have the freedom to do what I want – we all do.  “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul” (William Ernest Henley).  Thus, my summer is not really ending.  I am still free after all.

At the same time, it is difficult to say goodbye to America again.  There are many things I wanted to accomplish this summer that were simply just not feasible.  I wanted to drive across the country.  I wanted to visit my friends out west and in Canada.  I wanted to explore this monstrosity of a landmass we call North America.  But alas, it was an unrealistic dream – for the time being.  I will have the freedom to do this at another point in life.  This is not the hardest part, however – putting my dreams and desires temporarily aside.  After all, I feel very privileged, and indeed I am, to go to grad school in Scotland – a beautiful and historic country.  Ultimately, the most difficult part is saying goodbye to the people I love, and again so soon.  My family and friends.  Life moves by very fast, and I think sometimes we forget to let people know how much we really appreciate them – we are all guilty of this at one time or another.  On that note, I must say: I love you all, I will miss you a lot, I will be back in the near future to annoy you once again, and please visit if possible (so many lochs so little time, I need a companion to explore them with).  In the mean time, enjoy the hell out of your lives – live in a perpetual summer.