Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Kristen Miller Column, 8/13/07



This is about the time of summer when I begin to get a tad bit depressed knowing it’s all about to come to a close.

Cold nights, shorter days, my birthday around the corner – all signs summer is coming to an end and the fall is lurking nearby.

I love having a summer birthday, but unfortunately, its onset is just another reminder there are only a few short weeks left of beach bumming and campfires.

At the beginning of the summer, excitement wells up over the summer’s possibilities. One just never knows what lies ahead for them during the hot summer months.

Unfortunately, this summer hasn’t been much out of the ordinary, if anything it’s been a lot less eventful than past years. Perhaps this is just a sign I’m getting older, friends are getting married and having babies, and life overall, is getting a bit more boring as the years go by.

The grand old days of summer may have been the most cherished as a child, not so much as an adult.

As adults, we appreciate the summer, but less time is devoted or alotted to chilling and playing around. One might say, life gets in the way.

Another sign summer is coming to a close, school items are for sale. When I was a child, this was definitely a dreaded sign, but as a college student, it was much anticipated.

This time of year, I get a sense of nostalgia for those college days and preparing for the upcoming school year.

When I was in college, this was the time of summer when I would start getting ready to head off to college.

One of my favorite parts was finding an apartment and buying the necessary (sometimes unnecessary) accessories, either to furnish or decorate it.

The end of the summer brought anticipation and nervousness of the unknown as the first day of school loomed.

Who are you going to meet? What are you going to do? Oh, and of course, what are you going to learn?

It’s kind of funny, at the time, you don’t want to be doing homework or studying. But after you have that degree and are in the working world, you long for all that education entailed. If only I could get paid to go to college.

Going to the college bookstore at the beginning of the year, finding all the books for the upcoming fall semester, was always an exciting time. Purchasing the books, on the other hand, was not so exciting (I’m sure I’m still paying for them, by the way).

The first day of school was a clean slate – trying to start the year off right by getting organized, studying, and reading ahead, only to become a little lax in a few short days.

Of course, assignments and tests were always dreaded, but oh, what I’d give for another first day of school.

Now, it is all just a memory and instead of buying new things for my new apartment, I’m paying bills.

Note to college students – enjoy every minute of your college years, especially the first few days. They go quick and you’ll miss them when they are gone.

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