Youth Talk

As a certain triangular-faced figure once sang: ‘There’s 104 days of summer vacation/ And school comes along just to end it/ So the annual problem for our generation/Is finding a good way to spend it’.

Yes, the origins of the source might seem slightly dubious but it has been weeks since I have encountered a more truthful statement. Who would have thought a Disney Channel show would have hit home so hard?

Indeed, summer holidays are every student’s pot of gold. Who wouldn’t want two whole months off challenging and tedious schoolwork?

And, while working adults certainly envy us for our unadultered freedom, the situation isn’t as dazzling as it might sound.

Quite simply, there honestly is ‘nothing to do’ at a certain age.

We do always complain about school taking over our lives but come summer and we’re begging to have something to do.

Sadly, even preoccupying one-self with TV or electronics has its limit. There’s a certain window of time before even the laziest of us get tired of back-to-back episodes of Friends.

I distinctly remember an embarrassing incident last summer, where I literally spent a whole day lying in bed, simply staring at my watch, having watched everything available on TV … much to the chagrin of my mother.

Though strange to admit, I am indeed thankful that this summer will be completely different. Yes, readers, things do change.

Having entered sixth form, a strange creature called ‘responsibility’ has suddenly entered my life, meaning my summer will be full of random coursework - school assignments, college application preparation and, hopefully, some time to relax.