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What’s on your summer bucket list? Is there a special place you want to go? Do you want to spend time in the garden or with friends, or work on a special project? How will you relax before the academic year begins?
Meg Palladino, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
I am finally about to take my summer vacation, just as all of the back-to-school sales and fall clothing are coming into the stores. I still need to squeeze in some time at the beach, some lazy afternoons, some sorbet and some family time. I’d also like to read a fun book. I am about to head to North Africa for three weeks, and I’m sure that I will be able to do all of those things.
Anna CohenMiller, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
My plan for the summer was to move away from distractions and get bored. I used to hate that term, “bored,” thinking that I wasn’t being productive, wasn’t allowed to relax. But now, the ideal bucket list has one thing on it -- boredom. For me, the kids, the family, to move away from big cities and into a small town. With extremely limited resources, I wouldn’t have a choice and would be forced to relax, to get bored. As my summer break comes to an end, I am reflecting on my time away. While still somewhat surprising to me, I was actually able to realize this dream. I spent multiple weeks living as a local in southern Spain: the coffee shop knows how I take my coffee, the kids have (Spanish) sports camp and playdates, I have time to work on my book, and I frequently find myself both relaxed and pleasantly bored.
Mary Churchill, Boston University, Boston
My summer bucket list always includes as much ocean, swimming and soft-serve ice cream as I can squeeze in to the oh-so-short few weeks of our Boston summers. My love for this magical trio runs deep, and I have definitely prioritized these in the past two months, adding new flavors that include matcha, taro and black sesame. I would love to fit in just one more day of soaking up the sounds and smells of the ocean before classes begin on Sept. 3.
How will you relax before the academic year begins?
