Mid-July. Yep, we are finally in what feels like summer. This is probably where you start your summer work or hang out with your friends. This year, however, summer feels a lot duller. I felt summer would be like many others, and I would be more energetic and happier. Sadly, something about this summer just makes me think, “Man, I expected so much more from this summer.” Here is what I expected from this summer versus what actually happened this summer.
Workload. I am a bit spoiled, so I, foolishly, thought I would have no problem doing my summer work and thought after I did that, I was done. WRONG! Even though we are almost a month into summer, I have just scratched the surface of the summer work I have. Let me give you a rundown. First, I had about 30 IXLs are question-by-question tests that get longer the further you get into the topic. Then, I had a 50 question math packet. To end the summer work, I have two book reports. (one for a fiction book, one for a nonfiction book) That’s not all, stay with me. I have a class on a test I have to take when I get back to school, then I have to be an assistant for a camp, and finally, I have another class that will help me get into a good high school. I completely underestimated the work I was going to receive over the summer.
Activities. Usually, for the entire summer, I play videogames and go to summer camp, maybe go on a vacation. Before summer started, my parents showed me a schedule full of activities over the summer, so I thought that my summer could finally have fun-filled activities. WRONG AGAIN! That schedule my parents showed me consisted of most of the classes I had to attend. With all these classes, I only have the afternoon of my days to do activities. While I have a few activities planned this summer, it is a disappointment that I have so many classes that override said activities.
Fun. That was vague, so let me explain: I was expecting this summer to be mostly fun, almost no work, (which was obviously me having ridiculously high expectations) and would have no academic adversaries for me to overcome. WRONG!!! Even in a perfect universe, I don’t think my expectation would become reality. Nothing can ever be almost no work, as something will always need to be done. I was hoping that summer would give me a break, but your expectations have to be really low for them to become reality. This summer has been a wake-up call for me because summer for me is almost like a routine. This summer, however, has lots of work, which I didn’t have before.
My summer, at the moment, is pretty disappointing. At least I’m out of school. This is only the beginning though, as July is the busiest month this summer. Stay tuned, because I’ll be posting a follow-up Expectations vs. Reality stating how my summer has improved. Thanks for reading and have a good rest of your summer.
-Roland Dillon