Alice Cooper may have raved that “school’s out for summer,” but for a typical UCLA student, ditching the books and the classroom is a far-fetched idea. Nowadays, Bruins pack in stressful summer schedules, along with a bottle of sunblock and a year-old pair of flip-flops.
It may seem admirable that students choose to maintain a “productive summer,” but this ambition defeats the original purpose of summer as a time for relaxation and creates unnecessary stress.
The UCLA summer ambition can go beyond academics, as the busy Bruin can be defined by several of the following personality types. But for those nostalgic fellows, including yours truly, we choose to revert back to the elementary days of aimless summers and honor our summer break in the only way it should be: free of stress and filled with laziness.
The Overachiever: Ah yes, we’ve all heard about this astoundingly ambitious student. Even as a first-year undergraduate, he strategized to create the most career-conscious summer. Applying for a top-notch internship in Washington, D.C. (for a prestigious congressman on Capitol Hill, of course), the overachiever began planning fresh from his winter break. This type of determination entails the force of a future Martha Stewart or Donald Trump in the making.
But, this type of post-graduate consciousness can only lead to exhaustion, preparing the overachiever for a mental breakdown on the eve of his fall finals.
The Gym Rat: Maybe it’s something to do with the hot weather, but some UCLA students are inclined to get off their butts and hit the gym ““ big time. Perhaps it’s also due to the sheer fact that during the school year ““ when we’re not cramming for midterms or panicking before finals ““ we try to focus on the other necessities in our lives, such as eating or sleeping. This leaves us little time to focus on our fitness. Alas, summer provides a prime time to shape up and show off. Sure, a marathon round of Super Smash Bros. can seem like a good way to blow off steam, but getting exercise can provide those same benefits and provide an opportunity to finally shed the “freshman 15.”
But the gym rat is only setting himself up for future disappointment, as the wrath of any midnight midterm binge can completely void those active summer days of hitting the treadmill.
The Jet-Setter: What is it about university life that transforms fantasies of traveling to faraway lands into reality? Perhaps it’s the abundance of study-abroad opportunities offered through UCLA’s Education Abroad Program, but it could also result from the new threshold of independence and adulthood that comes with being a college student. And the available opportunities can create a memorable experience for even the most jaded jet-setter ““ even being a beach bum is admirable, especially when it’s on the beaches of the Greek Isles.
But even the most adventurous jet-setter is sure to be hit with a wave of homesickness ““ after all, not even a five-star hotel can match the familiarity and comfort of a beat-up living room couch.
The Drifter: Alas, we now reach the last type of UCLA summer student, which is exactly where I fall in. Finding a comfortable limbo among the three other personality types, the drifter maintains the idea that summer break is, well, a break from the challenges and pressures of school life. Of course, this isn’t to say that the drifter has a concrete plan for her summer. In my case, so far my summer motto has been “Go with the flow.” It has amounted to my aimless dabbling in a summer class or two and taking small trips to somewhat-local destinations (in order to bypass a few of the drawn-out summer days).
We drifters may not be as ambitious as the overachievers, as health-conscious as the gym rats or even as imaginative as the jet-setters, but we maintain the nostalgic significance of summer. We dream about summers of melted ice cream, sprinklers, lemonade stands and ““ most importantly ““ TV marathons. Sure, we may not return in the fall with exotic tales or with toned-and-trim bodies, but we’ll answer that age-old question, “So, what’d you do this summer?” with a simple, “Not much.”
And we’ll bear that answer with pride, knowing that we celebrated our time off from the school year in the best way that we knew how ““ by doing absolutely nothing and by doing it with it with style.
Want to open a lemonade stand? E-mail Lina Chung at lchung@media.ucla.edu. General comments can be sent to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.