Ah, summer is just around the corner. All that stands in your way are a couple of monsters known as “final exams”, but even those are no match for you.
You pack up all of your stuff, cram it into the back of Dad’s truck, and are on your way back home. You can’t wait to just lie down, sleep, and relax after a long and difficult semester. But before you do that, you need to start planning a crucial event in your young life: the summer reunion with all of your hometown friends.
Face it: you haven’t kept in great contact with your hometown friends. Sure, you told yourself you would and sure, you did a really good job of it during the first few weeks of the semester, but now, during the heart of the academic year, when exams and papers have replaced your friends, you’re anxious to hear all about their crazy college stories, and to share your own. You set up a group chat and start planning the logistics of the event. Right off the bat, you face the difficult task of coordinating when everyone’s coming home.
Similarly to real estate, the location of your reunion is critical to its success. Backyards are good, backyards with fire pits are great, and backyards with fire pits and pools are perfect! Picking the right food to have is also important. Chances are that your mother, in her happy state due to your return from college, will probably agree to make anything you little heart desires. But just to be safe, have all your friends agree to bring a dish.
Your tedious planning has paid off. The day of reckoning is here, and your friends will be here in any minute. You are anxious to see them all, and you are curious to see what all has changed. Your guys friends will probably be spotting some sort of facial hair in celebration of their collegiate independence, and your lady friends may have a new hairstyle. Personalities may also differ. You best friend might now be a devout fraternity brother, and the friend that did nothing but schoolwork in high school might now be Mr./Mrs. Involved-in-Everything. But what’s troubling you the most is how your friends will feel about you. You’ve heard horror stories of how high school friends have gone off to college and hated each other upon arriving home, and you hope this isn’t the case for you and your friends.
Gasp, the doorbell! Your friends are here, and the moment has arrived. Time to re-connect. Even though you were nervous about how college had changed everyone, you remember that these people are your friends for a reason: because they like you.
Have a happy summer break, everyone!
~Scott Eisenhart
