Coming off my first two semesters at Stevens, the summer had never felt more wide open. There wasn’t the anticipation of a new life event like the previous summer. There was no summer assignment, reading list, or online introductions on my horizon. I would be going back to the summer job I had had for the past four years. Once I had put down the pen on my final exam and clicked submit on the final Canvas page, I kicked back, ordered some sushi, and thought of nothing but relaxing for days on end.
Fast forward three months and I am wondering why I ever thought I would have time to relax. I got home and immediately, plans started forming around me. The life I had just left was quickly becoming a distant memory. Hanging out with friends from high school, I honestly wasn’t giving a single thought to my life back in Hoboken.
As with anything familiar, being back home brought back old habits and routines. Picking up lunch shifts Tuesday through Friday at the restaurant, hanging out with friends Thursday through Saturday, and spending time with family on Sunday. As the summer progressed, my schedule filled up and the routine started to falter. Two weeks in, I went to a concert in Washington, DC with some friends. Three weeks in and I was asked to help out with the end of year festivities at my old high school. The routine I had known for two weeks was gone, and thank God.
While my work schedule was relatively the same, throughout June and July, it was filled with family functions and side-quests with friends alike. A family vacation to Lewes, DE immediately followed by a welcome home party for one of my international friends was the cause of simultaneously one of the most exhausting and rewarding weekends of my summer. Then, only giving myself two weeks to rest, there would be a going-away party for the same friend, a trip to New York City to see the Odyssey, and another family vacation, this time in Sea Isle City, NJ.
August then followed, a little more quietly than the previous two months but eventful nonetheless. One more family function, one more poker night, one more pool party, and suddenly, I was the last one home. Everyone else had gone off to their respective schools and I was stuck twiddling my thumbs for another week because Stevens starts late for some reason.
With days more mellow and calm, they allowed me to take stock of just what all I had experienced in the past few months. Scrolling through my camera roll allowed me to see how much I had done and how far I came. Pictures spanning six states and all 24 hours in a day. Locations ranging from concert venues to beaches to friends’ basements. Every emotion that could possibly be conceived as positive, happy, and joyful. After gathering up all the functions, side-quests, and time well spent, I could only come to the conclusion that this was my most complete summer yet. And with that in mind, for the first time in months, I start looking to the future.
As I am writing this, I am counting down the days until I move into my new dorm — until I see some of the friends I had made not even a year ago, until I start classes, and until I can get back to Hoboken and New York City. If this summer was my most complete yet, what’s to stop this school year from being the most complete as well?
