Why September isn’t the end of the world. Sort of

It’s been more than a month since I wrote my chemistry lab exam, and finished my first year of university.

Initially, it was hard to believe. After eight months of labs, tests, assignments and physics class, it was over. My first year of university. Done. An endless supply of summer vacation ahead of me.

And now a month of that endless supply is gone.

Back in high school, this would have been cause for alarm. Summer vacation had to be carefully rationed. Spent efficiently. If I decided to watch Star Wars, I’d fast forward to the lightsaber battles and skip any scenes where Anakin opened his mouth.

There couldn’t be any wastage.

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But this summer, for the first time ever, I’m not dreading going back to school in September. It’s one of those things about university that I would never be able to explain to my grade 12 self.

It’s a hard habit to break. Every summer vacation for my entire public school life, I went through the same pattern of enjoyment: three weeks of fun, five weeks of September Dread.

Okay, so maybe I’m not exactly looking forward to September. But it’s not ruining the rest of my summer vacation, either.