Summer Lovin'

I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see the beginning of the end of summer. When I was a kid, the first few weeks of August were a solemn affair. It meant only one more month of the blissful freedom of summer. Only one more month of sleeping until noon, watching unhealthy amounts of TV –– and, most important, no homework. On a side note: Apparently many children are now, in fact, back in school; I am appalled.

This summer has meant a lot of things, none of which aligns with the traditional kid idea of summer. Far from it, actually, as I graduated from college just this past May (was it only May?). Therefore, this summer has been a sort of stopgap between my adolescent and adult years. Don’t get me wrong: Come Labor Day I don’t expect to magically become an adult. I don’t expect that to happen for a while now. Far from watching copious amounts of television, I’ve been barely able to keep myself abreast of current events by listening in on my coworkers’ conversations.

The past few months have been of record proportions for me. I work two jobs, one of which requires a nearly two-hour commute several days a week. The other keeps me on my feet for sometimes five hours at a time (ah, the joys of retail.) I know many people have more and harder jobs they’ve been slogging through this summer, but, considering my past history, this summer has been tough for me.

That’s why I’m glad to see it rolling to a close (that, and the end of 100-degree weather.) I’m not really expecting life to get any easier this fall; all I’m expecting is change. I’ll be moving thousands of miles away to the icy tundra of the northern United States and starting a new life where I know absolutely no one.

I have conflicted feelings about leaving New Orleans, a place that has been a learning experience in itself, but I’m fairly confident that I won’t be gone for long.

Victoria Perkins is an intern at Renaissance Publishing. She lives in Baton Rouge.
 

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