I went into Summer 2022 thinking that it would be one of the best summers. I had chosen to stay on my college campus and work in DC. When I first made this decision, I felt like this was the best option for me, and was so excited to begin the summer. I had also been under the impression that a majority of my friends would also be staying in DC with me. However, this was not the case. As the summer drew closer, more and more of my friends began making the decision to go home and not stay in DC for the summer.
I quickly realized that I’d be in DC alone.
There were very few people that I knew that were staying in DC for the summer, andthe people I did know, I wasn’t particularly close to. While I thought that this summer could be ‘the best summer ever’ it quickly became apparent that this would be a much sadder and lonelier summer than I had imagined.
In all honesty, I’m not very good at being alone. I’ve never been great at going out and doing things without friends or other people with me. Even running simple errands, like a quick trip to Target or to the grocery store, I’d often try and find a friend to go with me. I’m certainly capable of doing things alone, but I’ve always preferred to have a friend with me.
While I had coworkers and friends from work, I still spent the majority of my time alone. Most nights, after work I would go home, cook a quick dinner and eat it while watching Dance Moms, or some other form of trashy reality TV. I would maybe read a chapter of a book or call a friend, but most of the time I didn’t do much at all. The weekends were even more daunting. Two whole days that I needed to spend alone. I usually attempted to find small things to do to keep myself occupied, such as going to a coffee shop, the farmers market, or grocery shopping. But most of the time, I tried to fill up my weekend by picking up shifts at work or finding ways that I didn’t have to be alone.
Summer quickly became redundant, boring, and most of all lonely.
While the summer was certainly not how I hoped, I slowly became used to the routine that I had created. I began to enjoy the peaceful evenings after work where all I had to do was read or watch a new show. I started to find places to go and things to do that I enjoyed doing alone. I realized I loved trying a new coffee shop or going to a new bookstore alone. I realized that I got to try lots of different things, like going to new art museums or going to new stores. While I liked doing these things with friends, I learned to love doing them alone. I discovered a lot about myself during this time. I realized that I was, at times, too dependent on others when it came to doing errands or going to new places. I realized that I was fully capable of doing these things by myself, and having a lot of fun while doing them.
Slowly, I found peace and joy in the solitude of summer. As the summer went on, I even became closer to my coworkers and started spending more time with them outside of work. My schedule became more unique and less redundant, rather than the mundane routine I was used to. And by the time summer was over, I was sad to have to go back to the business and hecticness of the school year.
While this summer challenged me mentally sometimes, and was certainly not what I had hoped it would be, looking back, I miss the simplicity and peacefulness that came with my summer.
My summer was not filled with the most exciting stories or the most impressive internship, but it was filled with peace, self-discovery, and a totally new experience. As I move forward into the school year, and even into next summer, I know that I can be happy and self-sufficient in anything I choose to do, even if others aren’t with me.