Summer sun's no longer fun

I might be one of the few people who actually enjoy Maryland's 90-degree, so-humid-you-can-see-the-moisture days. For me, the moment the mercury rises above the 70 mark, I've only got visions of beaches, ice cream and lazy days in my head. It's nearly summer, the time of the year when we shed our wooly sweaters and shrouds of stress for carefree pastels and laid-back flip-flops.

So you can imagine why I've been a little disappointed recently. Wherever I walk (flip-flops flappily announcing my entrance), all I hear kids chatting about is the stuff they're doing this summer—and we're not talking vacation, sleeping or getting a tan. Think more along these lines: summer school, internships and working to pay for college.

What happened to the summer I used to know? Or the one my parents did? It's all I can do not to get depressed when I hear the Beach Boys crooning: "We'll all be gone for the summer . . . we're on surfari to stay . . . tell the teacher we're surfin' . . . surfin' U.S.A." Sorry guys, looks like we're here to stay.

Method to this madness

With college applications projected to increase by about 20 percent over the next few years, according to the Department of Education, it's no wonder kids today feel pressured to make their summer vacations a chance to beat the cutthroat competition.

According to myRoad.com, a website affiliated with the College Board, while attending summer school or extra classes doesn't guarantee entrance to top colleges, such activities do add a "certain luster" to college applications.

This is all the incentive some kids, like junior Cordelia Abrokwah, need. Abrokwah admittedly followed the overachiever's path in order to boost her résumé last summer. She took chemistry, freeing up her junior year schedule for more advanced courses. However, Abrokwah's choice came with a price. "I spent my entire summer there, and it was not fun at all," she sighs.

Sophomore Stanley Wang, a Magnet student, attributes his desire to intern at a research institute this summer to two factors: the real-world exposure and the "peer pressure." "Everyone else in the Magnet is doing an internship—you'd feel behind if you weren't," he states simply.

Peer pressure isn't the only motivation for kids to work over the summer. The image of demanding parents pressuring their kids to overachieve commonly comes to mind. However, Washington Post metro and education staff writer Jay Mathews says that this is not always the situation.

"In the vast majority of these cases, such summer activities are initiated by the kids, not the parents," he says. "They see they need to get ready for college, as well as have something good on their résumé."

Mathews adds that going beyond the classroom and traditional extracurricular activities is a natural part of success. "[These kids] are smart, want a wide range of choices in life and know what they have to do to prepare for those options," he says.

What Mathews says rings true. I must confess that this summer, I am not going to be as carefree as I've led you to believe. In fact, I will be among those who will dedicate their vacations to pursuing an internship at a research institution.

Before I get blamed for hypocrisy, there's a distinction to be made. I'm working because of the last reason Mathews stated: I want to gain exposure so I have the luxury of having more choices in the future. And while there'll be those days where I'd rather cavort in the sun than look at cell cultures, I know that this internship will be a great opportunity. Not to impress colleges, but to satisfy my thirst for
what's out there.

Junior Nick Muzzatti, like me, will intern at a research institute this summer. Aside from spending his days at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, he'll be working two jobs. As if that wasn't enough on his plate, Muzzatti is going to teach himself physics in preparation for the AP class he's signed up for next year, because he never took the basic physics class.

To some, Muzzatti's plan of action is, well, crazy. He may even be working harder than he did during the school year. But the ambitious junior isn't worried. "I really want to do it," insists Muzzatti. "I don't mind giving up my summer, because that's what I enjoy: working."

A lost cause?

Guidance counselor Lynne Wood acknowledges that prestige goes along with internships, selective camps or extra classes. "I can't help but think it would be impressive," she says. But Wood says there is a downside: "You might be miserable."

Abrokwah says she experienced this snag but believes it was only a small price to pay in the long run. "Honestly, I really wish I could have enjoyed the summer," she says. "But right now, my main focus is to get into my first choice school. Once I get in, then I'll relax."While I see the logic in Abrokwah's actions, I'm not a big fan of self-imposed misery. Our high school years are supposed to be the best years of our life (I know, I know—"Saved by the Bell," here I come). And sacrificing what little free time we have simply to get into the college of our dreams seems just a bit stringent.
Wood agrees. "Life is only so long," she says. "Having an internship or not won't necessarily determine whether you get in [to a college]."

After that summer spent poring over a chemistry book, one might think Abrokwah would not make the same choice again. However, she plans to ditch her summer again, this time with the intent to focus her energy on an internship and college applications.

While Abrokwah is willing to sacrifice her summers for what she believes will be a big reward at the end, she also knows that she will never have "the high school experience." "We're missing out on a childhood," she says. "When I'm 40, I'll look back at my high school years and say, ‘What did I do?'"

We only get to be frolicking rogues once. And while it's true that I may not be doing my fair share of frolicking this summer, I am pursuing something I enjoy. So if you're going to ruin your carefree youth, don't do it because you think it looks good on an application. Otherwise, you might be a scientist ten years down the road, wondering where the lazy days of summer have gone.