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Although the summer season in universities is long, it rarely means a long and carefree rest for students. Purely for financial reasons, many students are compelled to work during the summer, or if summer jobs aren't available, advancing studies during the summer may feel like the only option. Some students have a summer ahead tightly focused on their thesis work.
So what does vacation mean, then?
In people's conversations, vacation is often associated with the idea of an earned break—or a reward for strenuous efforts. In the same breath, it's often said that the purpose of a vacation is to help recover so that one can push through the upcoming fall at full throttle.
Nonsense, I say.
The purpose of a vacation is to give us time to fulfill ourselves, and nobody needs to earn that right from anyone. Regardless of how many academic achievements or work shifts you have behind you, you also have the right to take a vacation. Your vacation can be short or long—as long as it's true to you. Vacation doesn't need to be on faraway beaches or involve grand adventures—just as long as it's true to you.
Vacation also doesn't have a purpose outside of oneself. Vacation is vacation, not a tool for endurance, because none of us are battery-operated robots. That's why I want to emphasize that whatever recovery and vacation mean to you, I hope you give yourself space to do things that bring you joy and meaning. Whether it happens between work shifts or elsewhere.
I hope you make this summer your own.
And because you can't bottle up vacation, sunshine, and resources for a rainy day, I also want you to take a moment to consider how you could incorporate elements of vacation and recovery into your everyday life. Few of us have the opportunity to vacation in dream destinations, but recuperation and vacation elements can be achieved with smaller efforts. Maybe you'll come up with some small steps or daily habits to brighten up yourself and your routine. At its best, vacation is a state of mind independent of the realities of everyday life, whose joy carries far beyond the actual vacation period.
