Summer break is rapidly coming to a close, and that means Ithaca will soon be repopulated with thousands of young adults thirsting for knowledge (and beer). The journey back to Cornell after a summer off is different for everyone. Some pack up their cars and prepare themselves for an arduous journey. Others only live a short distance away. Some fly in from various corners of the globe. Still others never left Ithaca and are merely waiting for classes and their friends to arrive.
I have already returned to Ithaca, and my personal journey was of the first type mentioned above. I loaded up my car on a Friday night, being careful to not forget anything. The next morning at about 5 AM, I woke up and began my journey. Over the next 14 hours I crossed 6 states. I filled my car up with gas 3 times, which also happened to be the only 3 times I got out of my car. I drank 4 Red Bulls, 2 bottles of water, and ate 2 Clif Bars. I listened to over 220 songs on my MP3 player. When I finally got out of the car in Ithaca, I was shaking from the caffeine buzz, and my left arm was bright red. It was a long trip.
Then again, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Punishing myself in some idiotic way, like driving 14 hours alone, is somehow satisfying. I like making this difficult on myself.
Regardless, I’m happy to be back in Ithaca. Despite the fact the weather can be awful, school can be stressful, and… wait I forgot why I’m happy to be back all of the sudden. It probably has something to do with that “punishing myself” thing. That and this, my senior year, will be the last time all of my friends from school will be able to spend an extended period of time with each other.
Whatever reasons you have for coming back, even if you don’t really want to, the fact of the matter is, if you have yet to graduate, you have to. So take the one piece of good advice I’ll actually give this summer and make the best of this next year, or whatever you can remember of it.