No matter who you are or what you do, every person has the same decision to make each day; How am I going to spend my 24 hours, 1,400 minutes, or 86,400 seconds?

To many, college offers the opportunity to take time and pursue something you truly love, or at least something worthwhile. During the school year, academics occupy much of our time each day. However, during the summer months when class is not in session for most, students can get a glimpse of how they may spend their time in adulthood.

Everyone has heard the saying, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” to the point of it becoming cliché, but that does not make finding what you love any easier. It is hard to refute the logic that if work is something beloved it feels a lot less like work.

Each person has a limited amount of time on this Earth and no one wants to run the risk of “wasting” that time. The challenge is finding activities coinciding with each person’s unique interests.

For many, college is one of the final chapters of development before the more serious responsibilities of adult life start to require attention. College often resembles a state of purgatory in-between adolescence and adulthood, at an age often preoccupied with a journey of identity.  With the constant distractions of life during the semester, the terms ‘free time’ and ‘college student’ are not often included in the same sentence.

College provides students with an experience that resembles regular demands of adult life with one special caveat; For three consecutive months, you get a break from those demands. Once the semester ends and the weather starts to warm, college students have an opportunity to make their own decisions.

Having the ability to choose how to spend summer free time after the growth achieved in college can help people find their path to happiness and a worthwhile career. As people age they learn more about who they are and what makes them tick, which makes the choice of how to spend free time in college of vital importance.

Safe from the additional responsibilities of adulthood, summer time for college students can be a risk-free time to combine what they have learned about themselves and their free time to further understand what makes them truly happy.

When tasked with making a decision regarding how to spend some free time, think of a summer day with nothing to do. Would the activity be something worth consuming the endless opportunities a full day of free time can provide? With that thought process anyone can come to understand the value of summer time freedom.