‘Live your summer in moderation’

The sun is shining, the ice cream truck is gingerly perusing down the streets of Waterloo, birds are chirping and flocks of backpacks are headed towards the business building.


Photo by Andreas
Photo by Andreas

The sun is shining, the ice cream truck is gingerly perusing down the streets of Waterloo, birds are chirping and flocks of backpacks are headed towards the business building. Yep — school is back.

It’s my first time being a Wilfrid Laurier University summer student, and going into this I wasn’t sure whether it would be a pleasant or negative experience. After speaking to a handful of summer students, past and present, it’s obvious the pros outweigh the cons. From the beautiful weather, a dramatically less crowded school, weekday keggers and of course Laurier’s summer baseball league, it is a pretty sweet deal.

Third-year student Colton Vandenberk is most excited about the prospect of free time, and the extent of activities that the good weather has to offer.

“Without having a job this summer my afternoons are open for golfing, baseball and patio beers with the guys,” he said.

Ridhima Gujral, a fourth-year marketing student felt the best part about going to school in the summer is getting to know everyone so closely.

“Since there are only so many people here in the summer you become kind of like a tight-knit little Laurier community.”

Many students are done the bulk of their classes by 11:30 a.m., and with such a big chunk of the day left there are many possibilities for activities.

A summer student veteran and now Laurier BBA graduate, Laurianne Wilson, organized her class schedule to take advantage of the summer potential.

“The best part was having a schedule that allows you to enjoy the summer. It certainly beats looking out at the sun from behind an office window.”

Sure, being a summer student has its positives, but let’s not forget to address its drawbacks. A major downfall of school in the summer is that you still have a lot of responsibilities and commitments.

With all the fun events happening around you, it is easy to slack off, push your work to another day and relax patio side instead.

“[But] at the end of the day, school matters,” Gujral said.

She’s right. Summer is a time to enjoy the beautiful weather and all the things that come along with it, but we still have assignments, readings and let’s not forget exams.

Wilson shared a few tips from her time as a summer student on how to manage a full course load while still having fun.

“Make sure you participate in the summer events around campus because you’ll definitely make a ton of new friends. As for getting school work done, try planning your work around Wednesday and Friday nights, and maybe Thursday and Saturday mornings too, just to be safe.”

Although schoolwork should be your first priority, Vandenberk said everything is healthy in moderation, and that having a little bit too much fun isn’t necessarily a bad idea.

“Live your summer in moderation. Sure go to class, do your readings and buckle down when needed, but get out to a few too many keggers, maybe spend a little too much time at the beach. For a lot of us, this will be one of the last summers we have as undergrad students, why not make some new stories along the way,” he said.

Whether you see going to school in the summer as a great thing or not, it’s all about perspective. Start embracing the amazing things that being a summer student has to offer, and it may just change your mind about having to trek to campus this summer.

 

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