Student Blog: Summertime Studies and Stressors

While some students are soaking in the sun after a year of hard work, many others are keeping the books open for a summer semester. I myself fall into the latter group and have been hitting my favorite coffee shops to study rather than hitting the beach. This summer I am taking two courses: a wellness course on stress and anxiety management and a course to get my Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) certification. Ironic, isn't it? One class is all about stress and anxiety meanwhile the other course covers one of the most stressful jobs out there. The greater punchline of it, though, is that I am pursuing arts education. So, how did I end up here? 

As many college students know, summer semesters often leave you at a crossroad. Do I stay in my college town and pay all the associated costs to take relevant courses in-person or do I venture home and take a gamble with whichever online courses I can get in to? I, obviously, chose the second and am splitting my time between coursework, working at my local theater, and trying to still find some fun and relaxation throughout these months.

However, the transition into summer can be very jarring as a student. It can feel as if you are in the off-season of your favorite television drama. One minute you are at the peak of the action and then, all of the sudden, you're stuck in a holding pattern. Summer has always had a positive connotation, but for some of us striking a balance between all the facets of your life after moving back to your hometown for the summer can be difficult. Am I a student? Am I an employee? Am I just a young adult trying to enjoy my summer?

I feel that this short-term identity crisis is especially exacerbated for those studying arts-based careers. You find yourself so settled in one arts community, always knowing which theater is doing what show and when that audition is, and then up and leave to a sometimes very different community right in the middle of the year. Wherever you live for the summer can have a very different attitude towards and atmosphere surrounding the arts, so its often a weird transition.

While I was in full-time student mode, it was hard to stay connected to local auditions happening in my hometown for summer productions. Auditions took place as early as last December and it's nearly impossible to be thinking so far ahead when you are bogged down with more pressing school work. Now, though, I find myself wishing I was working with a show and feeling that creative hunger that just can't be satisfied by my current surroundings.

On the day to day I am going from learning how to maintain an airway to seating a new audience at the theater and ending the night with a family dinner. Though I love all of those things individually, it is a lot of different roles to play and can leave someone feeling a little lost. 

Based on all this, you may think I am miserable with my current happenings, but it is quite the opposite. This is my third summer working at this theater and returning to work every week is joyful and exciting. I feel like a superhero learning all of this emergency medicine and love that I am getting the chance to take such a different course.

My point in all of this is that my complicated routine is one shared by many, as the summer serves as the best time to both catch up on coursework and to build finances for the coming year. We often only see summer as a time for relaxing, but it can be really insightful and show us what we value even more than we sometimes realize. The chaos of it all will keep me on my toes and likely reveal a slew of lessons I'll carry with me into this upcoming school year. 

Over these next few months, I hope that you will stick with me as I navigate everything from learning CPR to picking up tap dance in my spare time. Summer will be over in the blink of an eye, but I am striving to make the most of my time in as many areas as possible and would love your company along the way!